Gundam: Knights of Sword
by DX1998
Summary: (Minor crossover with Gundam X.) It is said that one event can send waves across the world, and change history. One such event came in the form of a massive flash of light in the early days of the Bloody Valentine War. The Kingdom of Scandinavia and the rest of the Cosmic Era would never be the same...not after the 'Gundam' fell from the sky...
1. Phase 1: Flash in the Night

**AN: Hello, hello everyone! Welcome to my newest fanfic idea. With ACOF wrapped up and the sequel's plotting chugging along, I decided to work on something else to keep myself occupied. My other stories are either fully written (_A Rose and a Sparrow_) or dead in the water (_Celestial_ and _Mirror of Desire_) so I decided to 'come back to my roots' if you will. SEED is where I started, and it's where I've returned. Now, this idea came to mind due mostly to binge watching Gundam X. I wanted to write a Gundam fic after that, and...  
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**Skywalker_T-65: Roped me into it. Since I've take DX's original fic (Angel) and made it so successful, she's roped me into helping with this one.**

**DX: No need to be dramatic bro. Anyway, the two of us are collaborating on this fic, in the interests of making it as good as possible! :D **

**Sky: We do hope you enjoy it.**

**DX: Let us know what you think! Also, special note on the bottom. ;)**

* * *

**March 16th, CE. 70**

**Kingdom of Scandinavia**

* * *

A massive roaring noise shook the quiet night outside the city of Oslo, in the Kingdom of Scandinavia. A brilliant flash of white light lit up the darkness, as alarms rang in the nearby naval base. Radar, already having issues from the N-Jammers dropped by ZAFT, went haywire across the base. Nothing on the readings made sense, as...something...flashed across the screens, towards a nearby mountain. Something fast, that quickly vanished from the N-Jammer crippled sensors.

The panicked Scandinavian soldiers, yet to develop a more effective scanner, had no idea what was happening. Their nation had been neutral for centuries-barring the unfortunate Second World War- if one counted their constituent Kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. They retained that neutrality in the current war that had begun to grip Earth and her colonies just a few short months previously. Scandinavia took that neutrality seriously, and any aircraft to enter their airspace had to be civilian...and cleared to enter.

For something to streak across the night sky so close to one of their major cities, the capital of Norway, was not a pleasant thought. Needless to say, aircraft and troops were scrambled almost immediately after the event began. At least a dozen helicopters took to the skies, with a handful of fighters for escort. Scandinavia took their neutrality very seriously, much like the Orb Union.

Inside one of the choppers sat a group of Scandinavian soldiers, dressed in the dark green uniform indicative of their nation's Army.

"Alright everyone," a tall man with black hair spoke up, "Command is running around like headless chickens, so its _our_ job to figure out what that object was."

"Do we have any idea what to expect Captain?" a red-haired woman asked, carefully adjusting her _Gevär _m/68 Assault Rifle.

"None," the Captain, a man by the name of Sillen replied, "we have no idea what it was, or where exactly it landed. Current theory is a ZAFT mobile suit."

Muttering began amongst the soldiers as the redhead frowned slightly, "But sir, the closest ZAFT base is in Gibraltar. Surely they couldn't get a Mobile Suit all the way across Eurasia."

"I don't believe it either Corporal. However, no fighter moves that fast. It might have been an orbital drop."

While the capabilities of ZAFT's machines were mostly unknown to those in Scandinavia, it was still hard to believe that a lone GINN or CGUE could survive atmospheric reentry. In any battle involving the Coordinator's, their machines always came down in some form of drop pod. Such a device was more than large enough to be easily identified, even on the N-Jammer afflicted radar. Not to mention far slower than the object that had crashed in the Norwegian mountains.

"We're landing now!" the pilot called back, as the helicopter landed with its fellows in a snow-covered clearing.

"This is as close as we can get to the estimated impact zone," Sillen informed his men, "Corporal Westberg, take two men north. The rest, with me to the East."

The redhead in question nodded, as she took the lead in a triangle formation with two Privates following close behind her. Once the three Scandinavians were amongst the trees and away from the landing lights of the helicopters, they blended in perfectly with the trees surrounding them. The soldiers weren't about to take any risks. If this was a ZAFT machine, it's pilot could be watching for anyone sneaking up on it. And Coordinators had notoriously good night vision, depending on their enhancements.

The soldiers didn't fancy being shot full of holes by a submachine gun, or whatever the pilot could be packing. But as they continued deeper into the forest, it became harder to actually _see_ anything. After all, none of _them_ were Coordinators. Despite having similar practices to the Orb Union, there were not many Coordinators left in Scandinavia. Oh to be sure they were there, and many of them were in the military. But when only one percent of your military was made up of Coordinators, having one of them in any random squad was rather rare.

Thus, the soldiers stopped in a particularly thick part of the forest, and one of the Privates pulled his pack off his back. Corporal Westberg stepped up to the pack, and reached inside. Her hands came out with three sets of night vision goggles, that she promptly passed around her little group. Once the goggles were on, there was no longer any worry of being snuck up on at least.

"You hear something?"

While there wasn't a worry of being ambushed, the Private did have a point. There was a rumbling noise echoing through the mountains.

"Move!" Westberg shouted.

The soldiers scattered, as snow and rocks started to slide down the slope. It wasn't an avalanche, but whatever had landed in the mountains was clearly in this direction, as objects rattled by its landing rolled down past the soldiers who had barley gotten out of the way.

"We must be close then," the Corporal mused, as the last of the rocks flashed by.

The little group of Scandinavians continued up the slope. While the night-vision was effective, it almost made them miss a detail on the trees though. They were starting to look...burnt. Whatever had hit up here, had hit fast enough that it probably had a fireball around it. What else could have scorched the trees like this?

Of course, when they reached the clearing where the trees were the most damaged...they found what they had been looking for.

"Oh my God," the younger Private muttered, his eyes going wide.

"Indeed," Westberg added, her own voice tiny as she stared at the sight greeting her.

Sitting in the center of a large crater...was the unmistakable form of a Mobile Suit. The machine was laying on its back, 'sitting up' like it had hit the ground in an uncontrolled descent. Despite that and the size of the crater however...the machine didn't show any damage. It's body was fully intact, and there weren't even scorch marks on its odd paint scheme.

Not to mention it was clearly _not_ a ZAFT machine.

"Captain, we found the source of the signal."

It didn't take long for Captain Sillen's voice to reply over the radio, _"What is it?"_

"A Mobile Suit sir," the young Corporal answered.

There was silence for a couple seconds, before the Captain replied. His voice was tight, obviously worried about what he had heard.

_"A Mobile Suit? What is ZAFT doing here?"_

"That's the thing sir...it isn't ZAFT."

"_What? Only ZAFT has Mobile Suits, you know that Corporal."_

Westberg shook her head slightly, her blue eyes carrying a disbelieving look, "I know that sir, but this machine isn't a GINN. Or a CGUE, for that matter."

_"Well then, what is it?"_

The Corporal wasn't an engineer. Or a pilot for that matter. She was a ground-pounder through and through. So describing a machine like a Mobile Suit wasn't exactly her forte. Still though, until the Captain and his squad could reach her position, describing the machine in front of her would have to do. Taking her night vision off to see it better in the moonlight without the green tint, the young woman could describe it better.

"It's slimmer for one," she began, "more humanoid. Colors are wrong too. It's not olive green or white."

The woman looked a bit closer, before correcting herself.

"Correction, the limbs are primarily white. The torso is blue-red with a green panel of some sort on the bottom of what I'm assuming is the cockpit. I don't see a ZAFT issue rifle or sword on the hips, just some sort of white weapon."

_"Hmm..."_ the Captain sounded thoughtful, _"Any other differences? I notice you haven't mentioned the head, Corporal."_

The redhead shook herself, _That's because it's so odd...I've never seen a Mobile Suit with such a...human like head._

"It doesn't look anything like a ZAFT machine's head," she said aloud, "it doesn't have a mono-eye, or the large crest. If anything...it looks like a human skull. Two eyes, green coloration, a faceplate and some sort of V-crest instead of the massive GINN style one. I don't know who built it sir, but unless ZAFT's been holding back it isn't theirs."

_"I'm almost at your position Corporal,"_ Sillen replied_, _his voice still sounding thoughtful, _"Has there been any movement? Is the pilot in sight?"_

Westberg looked up at the imposing Mobile Suit, "No sir, nothing at all. I'm honestly surprised the machine is still intact. This is a rather large crater it made."

"I can tell," the Captain's voice said, as he walked into the clearing from behind the other soldiers.

"Sir!" the Corporal and her group saluted their commander.

"At ease," the older man waved, "I can see what you meant Westberg. That is not any ZAFT design I've ever seen."

The Captain looked up at the Mobile Suit. He couldn't shake a weird feeling about it though. Perhaps his inexperienced men and women hadn't noticed. But he did...it didn't _feel_ like the machine belonged here. And he wasn't referring to the fact that no Mobile Suit should violate Scandinavian territory. There was something distinctly _off_ about this weapon. He just couldn't place a finger on _what_ exactly it was. It was a very odd feeling, to be sure.

Nonetheless, he couldn't help but be impressed with whoever had made it. Trees were flattened and the ground cratered from its landing, but the machine really _didn't_ show any damage. Not even the long...something...on its back was snapped. If a ZAFT machine had gone into the ground at the speeds this was traveling on the radar screens, it would have shattered. At least, that was what the reports from the spies in the Alliance military reported.

But if this machine really wasn't ZAFT built...

"Corporal, you and Private Hawkson head up there and try to open the cockpit."

"Sir?"

The black-haired man looked over his shoulder at the confused woman, "If the pilot were conscious, the machine would have moved by now. I want to see if we have a prisoner, or a corpse."

The Corporal gulped audibly, "Yes sir."

The redhead and a blonde man drew their assault rifles, and crept carefully towards the Mobile Suit. The machine didn't move, its eyes remaining dull even as the Scandinavians got closer and closer to it. Westberg looked warily up at the cockpit, her blue eyes narrowing behind the visor that was once more on her face. Just because the thing hadn't moved, didn't mean the pilot was out cold or dead. He could just be waiting to ambush them.

Still, orders were orders.

"Crack that thing open Private."

Hawkson, the best technician in the group of soldiers, nodded slightly, "On it ma'am."

The young man took out a pocket computer, and hooked it up to a port on the side of what they assumed was the cockpit. His face tightened underneath his own goggles, as the soldier muttered under his breath. His hands raced across the touch screen of the tablet, and Westberg could only guess that his eyes were scanning it every bit as fast.

After a few minutes of muttering though, a triumphant sound came from the man.

"She's opening up," he warned the senior soldier, dropping his tablet and grabbing his rifle.

The redhead had her own weapon aimed at the opening cockpit, ready for anything. Or, at least she had thought so. What she wasn't ready for was the cockpit to be...

"Empty?" the Corporal muttered, "There isn't a pilot sir!"

The Captain scowled, "No pilot? How did it get here then?"

None of the soldiers could answer that question. The Captain just sighed, and radioed command. There wasn't anything else he could do, but secure the landing site. His men and women fanned out, as more of the troops filtered into the clearing. They set up a secure cordon around the crash sight, as Private Hawkson tried to get some information from the Mobile Suit's computer.

It would need to be transported to Haakonsvern near Bergen, the closest major naval base. Scandinavia had a Mobile Suit now...and they had to figure out who had built it, where it came from...and maybe, just maybe, what made it tick.

This was quite the opportunity after all...

* * *

**March 18th, CE. 70**

**Haakonsvern, Bergen, Kingdom of Scandinavia**

* * *

In the two days since the 'Flash in the Night', the formerly Norwegian naval base of Haakonsvern had been on secure lockdown. No one was allowed in or out without extensive paperwork. The citizens in nearby Bergen had absolutely no clue why this was the case, as the Scandinavian military wasn't exactly known for randomly locking down important naval bases. They were secure certainly, but this was on a whole different level. Of course, no civilian outside the base could possibly realize _why_ it was locked down. Or why it was so deadly important to the small Kingdom to keep it that way...they could hardly afford for the Eurasian Federation, largest power within easy striking distance, to figure out what they had stashed away in that base.

ZAFT finding out would be even worse. While it was true any ZAFT assault would have to come from space or across the industrial heartland of Eurasia, there was little real doubt that they would do it in a heartbeat. After all, if the Coordinators knew what was hidden deep inside Haakonsvern, they would collectively have a heart attack. Not least because the colonists would quickly realize their main advantage had just gone up in smoke, were Scandinavia to spread around what they had found.

Luckily for the heart health of the collective Coordinator leadership, the neutral Kingdom had absolutely zero intention of sharing their little discovery with the Earth Alliance. Other strictly neutral states such as the Orb and Equatorial Unions...maybe. The Alliance? Not a chance in Hell, not after they nuked Junius Seven.

Naturally, the top secret object in question was the mysterious Mobile Suit. Airlifted under the cover of darkness, it was sitting snuggling in a gantry, deep inside the naval base, as the best technicians in Scandinavia buzzed around it like honey bees. Ever since it had arrived, it had been causing quite the impression amongst the engineers and scientists. Amongst them, SAAB's Aaron Hanson, the Scandinavian counterpart to Orb's Erica Simmons.

"This machine is like nothing I've ever seen," the engineer was explaining to a group of very curious officers, "I've seen footage of ZAFT machines and Mrs. Simmons has sent me some very interesting theoretical problems. This Mobile Suit though...it is on a different level."

One of the officers, a graying Colonel, looked down on the machine, "And what exactly do you mean by that Dr. Hanson?"

"Exactly what I said," the engineer replied, "There is nothing about this machine that is not awe-inspiring."

Hanson started walking towards the Mobile Suit, sitting in its cradle. The officers followed behind him like a herd of ducklings, as the gray-haired man began speaking.

"Take the armor for example."

The engineer placed a hand on the side of the Mobile Suit, its paint as bright as ever.

"It fell through the sky at speeds that would have destroyed a GINN, according to all the reports I have read on them. Yet, this machine was undamaged, and completely intact. Analysis of the armor shows it is some unknown alloy of titanium...strong, durable and very hard to damage."

Noticing a look from the officers, Hanson shrugged, "And likely difficult to replicate. Given time, it could be done but it would be neither cheap nor efficient."

The men and women visibly deflated at that. Having an armor that was so much better than a GINN's was little use if they couldn't mass produce it. Still, even a limited production run of this armor could really improve Scandinavia's aging military.

"If the armor is difficult to duplicate, what of the rest of the machine?" a Major asked this time.

Hanson looked at the officer, and then walked away from the Mobile Suit. Sitting in a smaller cradle next to it were the weapons retrieved from the crash site. A, relatively, small square object. A curiously designed white rifle. And, most shocking of all, the long object from its back that the soldier's had noticed when finding the machine. An object that had an obvious barrel on one end of it.

"The weaponry," Hanson answered, "is highly advanced. However, it should be possible to duplicate two of them. The third is a rather more difficult prospect."

"Yes?"

The engineer sighed slightly, "After being tied to a generator, we can confirm that the square is the hilt of some form of beam sword. The same technology, in its simplest form, as that used by the larger warships in ZAFT and Alliance service, merely condensed in a magnetic field to prevent it from firing like a gun. Presumably, this weapon is used for melee combat, and could likely cut through the swords used by ZAFT machines."

"Impressive."

"And then there is the rifle," Hanson continued, his face showing a level of excitement as he looked at it, "a Mobile Suit scale beam rifle. It seems to use a magazine of some sort, pre-charged before a battle as opposed to charging from the machine's own power supply. The firepower of this rifle should be more than sufficient to destroy even a warship, given good targeting."

The first Colonel, moving away from the little group, had started to examine the rifle. While it was obviously shaped like a gun, albeit on a massive scale, there was something odd about it. The 'grip' seemed to have a line on it. In fact, it looked like it was designed to 'split' open. Perhaps to change the magazine? It would make sense, if the machine relied on pre-charged magazines to fire.

Turning to the engineer, the man raised an eyebrow, "Does the grip split open to allow reloading?"

Hanson looked up, "No, though I can see why you would think that. The grip actually splits into some form of shield, so far as we can tell. Useful since GINN's don't have a shield, but it leaves the machine with only its saber to fight with if it uses the shield function."

"Hmm..." the Colonel mused, "Interesting."

And it was, considering that was a rather unique design feature. One had to question what the purpose was though, since if you can overcomplicate your rifle to form a shield, you can probably build a regular one. ZAFT certainly could, since their CGUE had a shield with a built in gun...almost the reverse of this strange machine. For all that its rifle was interesting though, the Colonel hadn't failed to notice that Hanson hadn't mentioned the large barrel sitting next to it.

"And this?"

"Ah, yes," the engineer sounded off, "that. I will be honest with you all...we should not duplicate that, not unless you want to end the world as we know it."

The Colonel frowned, "And what do you mean by that Doctor?"

Hanson sighed, and ran a hand through his gray hair, "Exactly what I meant Colonel. That weapon...we had no idea what it was until we were able to access the Mobile Suit's computer. I almost wish we had never known."

All the officers turned to look at the old man, giving him odd looks. Surely something of that size wasn't _that_ bad. It was big for a Mobile Suit scale weapon maybe, but no bigger than a GINNs ion cannon. And while those were powerful, they weren't _world ending_ powerful.

"You won't give up will you?" the man muttered, "Very well. According to the computer, that weapon is called a 'Satellite Cannon.' An interesting name, wouldn't you say?"

"Get to the point Doctor."

"I am, I just thought the name of an object might tell you its purpose. In this case, the weapon in front of you is powered by a microwave beam, sent by a base on the moon and relayed across the Earth by a set of satellites, to allow for using in the day," Hanson took a deep breath, "That is not what is special about it. The Satellite Cannon requires the external power source, because it has enough power to destroy a Colony in a single shot."

One could have heard a pin drop after that statement. If it weren't for everyone in the little group around the Cannon being professionals, they would likely have had their jaws drop. Maybe even outright fainted. That much destructive power...it just didn't exist. Not even the largest warship could carry a weapon of such power. Beam weapons had not reached the point where they could destroy a colony. If they had, the PLANTs would long since have been obliterated. Junius Seven showed that much.

And who else could have a base on the moon and a network of satellites, _but_ the Earth Alliance? ZAFT did not control enough of the moon, or Space, to set up something like that. Nor would they...the Coordinators were far from stupid. Providing a Mobile Suit with this level of power just asked for it to be captured and used against their homeland. Anyone with half a functioning brain cell could tell you that.

"Do we know who built this?" the Colonel asked.

The Engineer nodded warily, "Yes...but...perhaps its best if I show you."

Walking over to the leg of the massive machine, Hanson activated a terminal connected to its main computer. The boot up screen was interesting looking to say the least...it didn't say ZAFT or OMNI Enforcer on the OS. In fact, it didn't even load an OS. It just went right into the machine's computer systems, where all the data about it was stored.

What it _did_ say on this screen, however, was odd.

"UNE?"

"'United Nations Earth'," Hanson said, "the machine is called the GX-9900 Gundam X."

The officers shared a look, "The UN is gone Doctor. Nor did it ever proclaim itself the United Nations of Earth, or develop Mobile Suits."

Hanson sighed again, "I am well aware. That is why it was best I showed you. This is the last recorded date the machine registered. Its construction date, if I am not mistaken."

The Colonel moved closer, and looked at the date that the 'Gundam's' computer was showing. His grey eyes widened ever so slightly at the sight. For it did not say Cosmic Era. In fact, it said 2250 AD, a date that was not only using the obsolete Anno Domini Calendar, but one using a date that AD never reached. Even the current year, CE 70, would not have equaled 2250 AD.

What was going on with this machine? An alloy of titanium never before seen. Handheld beam weaponry. A cannon with more firepower than the largest battleship cannon. And a computer that seemed to believe it was both from the future, and an obsolete dating system at the same time. What was this Gundam?

"Doctor?"

"I am as confused as you, I assure you," the gray-haired man replied, "However, I only have one theory. Alternate Universe."

The Colonel gave his older counterpart a flat look, "That's impossible."

Hanson shrugged, "Perhaps it should be. However, that is the only explanation that I can give you. I can assure you that neither ZAFT or the Alliance has developed a machine this advanced. There has been absolutely no tampering with the computer either, it is still in the state we found it in. Even if I am off my mark and ZAFT did develop a machine with a cannon that can destroy their homeland, it still wouldn't explain why it uses the Anno Domini Calendar. And uses a date that should be in the future. Not to mention...this machine uses a nuclear _fusion_ reactor. The N-Jammers have no effect on it whatsoever...tell me, have we developed any technology like that?"

The Engineer looked at his military counterparts, and welded a serious look on his face.

"If the possible answers do not work, that leaves only the impossible."

* * *

**April 2, CE. 70**

**Stockholm, Kingdom of Scandinavia**

* * *

_I do miss simpler times,_ Queen Margaret of Scandinavia mused.

The Queen was currently standing in an expansive suite of the Stockholm Royal Palace. The large window in front of her looked out on the slowly rousing streets of the largest city in Scandinavia. It was a beautiful sight in the early morning light, as birds chirped before they would be inevitably overrode by the noise of cars. Margaret almost envied the citizens of the city really. They had simple lives, totally unaware of what was happening behind the scenes in their nation. Most of them were only worried about getting to work on time. Not like their Queen...who had to worry about the very security and continued existence of her nation.

After all, things had stopped being simple in her life when the light flashed in Oslo's sky. It had taken some time for the Monarch to be informed, but once she was...well, she was shocked. To think that Scandinavia had quite possibly the most advanced Mobile Suit in existence, stashed away in Norway. A machine that seemed to be from a completely different timeline, and one that would make ZAFT green with envy. And, of course, do something rather more threatening. Because if either side of the raging war discovered the Gundam X...

Well, Scandinavia would not last long. The Alliance would diplomatically or militarily force its way into the nation, and confiscate the machine to develop their own Mobile Suits to counter ZAFTs advantages. And if the Coordinators found out, they would not hesitate to invade Scandinavia to steal or destroy the X. They could ill-afford to lose their one advantage over the Alliance, especially as the Gundam had an operating system that any Natural could use.

The military was developing their own Mobile Suit, in conjunction with SAAB, on a simplified variant of the Gundam's design. There was no way that the small Kingdom could build enough to counter Alliance numbers or ZAFT experience however. Thus, the reason that as Margaret turned around, she saw two men sitting across from her.

Lord Uzumi Nara Athha of Orb, and Prime Minister Edhas Vamsi of the Equatorial Union, to be specific.

"Thank you for meeting here on such notice," Margaret said, sitting down near her male counterparts.

"It was no issue," Uzumi inclined his head slightly, "It has been far too long since I last visited Stockholm."

"And I do admit it is interesting, to see such a different city from New Delhi," Vamsi added.

The Queen smiled slightly, "I am glad you are enjoying your stay. However, this is not a personal meeting."

"I expected as much," Uzumi replied, "so, then, why have you called the two of us here Your Majesty?"

"That...is a complicated question," Margaret sighed.

Vamsi frowned slightly, "Why is that? Our nations are not allied...but nor do actively ignore each other, not like Eurasia and the Atlantic Federation."

_If only they knew..._

Margaret looked at the window behind her again, gathering her thoughts. She knew what she was about to say was...awkward. Either the men would hear her out, or they would leave. Nothing for it though. If Scandinavia wanted to survive when the secret of the X inevitably leaked, they would need the help.

"What I'm about to tell you cannot leave this room," the Queen said, carefully showing no reaction to the looks of suspicion from the men, "I trust both of you, but this is a matter of national security. Unless I can guarantee you shall not betray Scandinavia, I cannot tell you any more and will have to ask you to leave."

The men shared a look at that. It was very rare that any of the three nations called a meeting of this variety. The Neutral Nations, as they were collectively known as these days, shared many things. However, as there was a distinct lack of a formal alliance system, such topics never included matters of national security. Why should they?

The very fact that Margaret mentioned that fact, meant this meeting was unusual. It also showed the level of trust she had for the other nations though...and could the men deny her that trust?

"Very well," Uzumi inclined his head slightly, "I agree."

"As do I," Vamsi added.

The Queen let out a small sigh, "Thank you, both, for trusting me. Now, I am sure you are curious as to what I am going to tell you."

"Indeed."

"Naturally."

Margaret smiled slightly, before it slid off her face, "Well, curious or not, I rather doubt you are prepared for just what I am going to show you. If I may direct your attention to the monitor?"

The little group of national leaders looked at a large TV screen, installed into the wall of the meeting room. Margaret pressed a button built into her own chair, and the screen crackled to life. While the male leaders were far too dignified to gasp in shock, there were noticeable reactions. Uzumi's eyes narrowed slightly, a suspicious look on his face. Vamsi, by contrast, had his brown eyes widen slightly.

For pictured on the screen, was the Gundam X.

"I am sure you realize why this is a secret now?"

"I do," Vamsi spoke first, while Uzumi continued to give the X odd looks, "I never...would have thought you had a Mobile Suit. Only ZAFT has access to that technology...how did you develop this?"

"We didn't."

Now the suspicious look from Uzumi was focused on the Queen, while Vamsi continued to look at the X curiously. Margaret was far from certain _why_ Lord Athha was giving her that look, since it wasn't like the Gundam came from Orb. And she explained as much, as she told them what her advisers had told her...that the machine was from another timeline. As insane as that may sound, it was the only thing that fit considering the number of quite frankly impossible things related to the Mobile Suit.

Not to say that Uzumi and Vamsi necessarily believed her. Especially the former, who was thinking of a similar looking design he had been presented by Erica Simmons. He was not going to mention that project, however, not unless he had to.

For his part, Vamsi just didn't believe it right away, because no matter how clear Margaret made it, or how clear she made it that she _believed_ what she was saying, it was hard to believe. He wasn't a scientist, but being told that something came from an alternate universe was something hard to believe. Not least because what were the odds that something like that could happen? An alternate timeline developing Mobile Suits, albeit ones completely different from ZAFTs, and then having one of them randomly pop up in _his_ universe in Norway? That sounded crazy for even fiction, let alone reality.

And of course, there was the fact this machine had a Nuclear _Fusion_ reactor. Regardless of where it truly originated, that was worrying.

"You do understand what you are saying is hard to believe Your Majesty," Uzumi spoke up, once Margaret had finished speaking.

"I do," she replied, "I don't believe it myself on occasion."

"It is very hard to stomach," Vamsi agreed.

"Indeed," the Lion of Orb added.

The Queen looked at the two men and sighed lightly, "As hard as it may be to believe, I am not lying."

"You do understand I cannot just believe such a story based on your word."

Uzumi was still frowning slightly. While he would like to believe the Scandinavian woman wasn't lying, he couldn't shake the fact that the 'Gundam' so closely resembled the machine's being developed in Morgenroete. On top of that, the story was still extremely hard to believe.

Vamsi on the other hand, "I do admit it is hard to believe. I have never known you to be a liar though, Your Majesty."

Sending another look at the Mobile Suit on the monitor, Vamsi sighed, "You truly believe what you are saying?"

"Yes, I do," Margaret nodded.

The leader of Orb was ready to question her again, but the Queen simply held a hand up to cut him off.

"I am well aware of how you feel, Lord Uzumi," she smiled slightly, "I do truly feel the same. However, I trust my engineers. Dr. Hanson is the best expert on Mobile Suits we have, and he is completely convinced he is correct on the origins of this machine."

The noble sighed slightly, "I believe that you are not lying to me. I have to question why you are bringing this to our attention, however."

The screen changed in response to that question. Now a line of half-complete Mobile Suits were shown, clearly based on the X. There were only a handful of them, but the very fact that Scandinavia had begun to duplicate the machines...

Well, that was a surprise.

"As you can tell, we have begun construction of our own Mobile Suits," the Queen explained, "However, we will never be able to build enough to defend our nation if ZAFT or the Alliance should discover we are doing so. We lack the industrial or technological base to do so."

Now, neither Vamsi nor Uzumi were idiots. They didn't take long to figure out what the Scandinavian was suggesting. There could only be one reason she had invited them to her Palace, shown them the Gundam and its derivatives, and informed them of her own country's issues with producing them. After all, the other two nations had the same issues...if reversed. As a union of India, Pakistan and other nations, the Equatorial Union did not lack for manpower or industrial might. However, they did not have an equivalent technological base compared to the highly advanced Orb Union.

And for all Orb's technological expertise, something almost entirely due to its policy on Coordinators and the presence of Morgenroete, it lacked severely in the manpower or industry needed to capitalize on that. They could build as much high technology as they wanted, but Orb would be quickly overrun in the event of a war with either side of the ongoing conflict. Anyone in the command of the nation knew as much, hence the reason it clung to its neutrality.

But...the Queen of Scandinavia was clearly suggesting...

"I believe we should cooperate," the woman confirmed the men's suspicions, "the Equatorial Union has the industry, and Orb has the technology. If we cooperate, with the data of the Gundam, we might just be able to produce enough to protect our nations."

"You realize what you are asking of me?" Uzumi asked.

"I do," Margaret nodded.

Vamsi sighed, "Our nation's have survived by staying neutral. None of us want any part of this war."

"And yet we all know that it is only a matter of time," the Queen countered, "Eurasia has been pressing for our annexation to their nation 'for our own good'. I am certain East Asia is doing the same for the Equatorial Union. And I know that the Federation wants Orb's technology and Kaguya."

They wanted to deny those words. Uzumi and Vamsi could _not_ deny them, however. To attempt to try, would be lying to the woman who had been nothing but honest with them.

"You are correct," the Lion of Orb finally said.

"We have also had pressure to give up our independence," the Prime Minister agreed.

"And that is why I am suggesting we pool our resources," Margaret continued, "Not an alliance...if we were to try and ally with each other, the Alliance or ZAFT would surely not allow it. And I am sure Orb's principles would not allow them to do so in any case."

Uzumi inclined his head, "'We shall not attack another nation, nor involve ourselves in another nation's war'. You are indeed correct."

"A defensive pact though," Vamsi mused, "would that work?"

The other two leaders turned to look at the Indian. The man simply shrugged slightly, a thoughtful look on his face.

"If we were to commit to aiding each other in constructing Mobile Suits, we would need something of the sort," he explained, "It would not be long before the Alliance or ZAFT would attempt to pressure one of us into giving up the technology unless we kept it a very closely guarded secret. If we had a defensive alliance...it might not keep them from moving against us, but it would at least add another layer of security."

The man had a point. ZAFT and the Alliance would have no issues moving against their individual countries, were the secret of the Gundam to come out. The Equatorial Union lacked advanced technology, for all its manpower. Orb lacked manpower, for all its advanced technology. And Scandinavia was somewhere in the middle, with the added problem of being right next to Eurasia and Atlantic Federation-controlled Britain.

"A defensive pact may be in our best interests," Margaret finally spoke up.

Uzumi frowned lightly, "While I do not condone war, nor do I want to have Orb tied to the fate of another nation, I will not oppose such a move."

Considering how the Lion of Orb was opposed to any form of alliance, it was a miracle to get _that_ much out of him.

"Perhaps a joint military force too?" the Queen suggested, "to allow our militaries to train with each other?"

"Such a move would make it obvious we are working together," Uzumi warned.

Vamsi nodded, "Then maybe a special task force? It doesn't need to be tied to any of our nations."

"You are speaking of a shadow operation."

"Yes, I am," the Prime Minister replied.

Margaret looked thoughtful, "It could work. There are groups that use mobile suits, without being a part of a government. The Junk Guild and Serpent Tail come to mind."

"You are suggesting forming a unit that will pose as a mercenary group?"

The Scandinavian nodded, "Yes. This will allow our soldiers to gain experience, and also provide a way of testing the new Mobile Suits in combat conditions."

"Very well," Uzumi conceded the point, well aware he would be the only dissenting voice.

"It will need a name..."

The three leaders dipped deep in thought, to come up with a name for their new idea. Margaret was the first to come up with one, her head coming up as her blue eyes looked at the other two leaders.

"Sword?"

"Not an acronym, right?" Vamsi asked, almost shuddering to think that it was considering ZAFT's joy of making completely nonsensical ones. It was still a mystery exactly what 'GINN' or 'CGUE' meant.

Margaret laughed lightly, "No, of course not."

"In that case, I like it."

"Lord Uzumi?"

The Lion of Orb nodded slightly, "I agree."

"Then it's decided. We will form a defensive pact, begin technological transfers, and form a special operations unit."

And thus, the Cosmic Era was changed forever.

* * *

**DX: As I said at the top, I have a special announcement to make down here. :D**

**Namely, we are willing to take OC submissions to fill up Sword's ranks! If you have a...**

**Sky: Well-developed.**

**DX: ...well-developed character, feel free to PM either of us! We're not adverse to co-authoring either, since the fic is already plotted out and all.**

**Sky: However, the two of us are siblings. We have no issues working together and collaborating on things...this and Change of Fate show that. So if someone wants to submit an OC or co-author (like that group that has been posting so many fics), you'll need to have more experience than we do. We have no clue on how to do 'proper' co-authoring. And I've been burned on OC submissions before...that's why they need to be well developed not just 'here's a name and some basic character traits, have fun!'**

**DX: So moody. :(**

**Anyway, I do hope everyone enjoyed the introduction! Remember, OC submissions are on a 'best written' basis. Anyone from Scandinavia, Equatorial Union or Orb is possible, and heck, I might even accept AF or other nation's for characters as long as they have a good reason for being here! :D**

**Sky: See you all next time. And since I have more experience with this than my sis does...Pairings are currently undecided. There won't be a poll or anything...we just haven't decided yet.  
**


	2. Phase 2: Heliopolis

**AN: I feel like I should note something...unlike Sky, I tend to post whenever I get a chapter done (notable exception being the Fable fic). As a result, I would probably say not to expect a standard update schedule. This is the fastest I've ever posted though, so there is that!  
**

**Sky: I'm mildly surprised we got it done this fast myself.**

**DX: I'm not! This is really fun to write, to say the least. A bit interesting in that I had three major OCs to introduce. Never done that before. I hope I didn't butcher the characters!**

**Sky: Same here, been awhile since I've used a different author's OC.**

**DX: On with the chapter! Oh, before I forget: Isabel Doris is the property of northernlion196 and Alexandra Bernhard is the property of Patriot-112.**

* * *

**December 21st, CE. 70**

**Sword Base, Kingdom of Scandinavia**

* * *

"Interesting facility you have here."

"Why thank you. We are quite proud of what we've accomplished, I do admit."

Two engineers walked through the main construction bay of the newest military base in Scandinavia. A base buried deep in a mountain, far from prying eyes. It was here, that Scandinavia had relocated the Gundam X and its derivatives that were being produced as fast as the small nation could possibly put them together. The base was expansive to say the least...metal walls expanding as far as the eye could see, as the two engineers continued to move through it. Sword Base had originally been designed as a redoubt...a place where the Scandinavian leadership and military could fall back in the event of a war.

As such, the base had already been mostly complete when it had been re-purposed for the new organization currently using it. Sword had commandeered the facility for training, using its larger areas to practice with the new Mobile Suits as soon as they came off the production lines. This was the first time that the two chief engineers of Project Gundam had actually been together in the facility though. In the case of the brown haired woman, it was her first time in the place _period._ She had been staying in her homeland of Orb working on their own projects after all.

Nonetheless, Erica Simmons could say she was impressed with the base. It blew Morgenroete's facilities out of the water in pure scale.

"You should be," she agreed, looking over at Dr. Hanson, "only a few months since you found the Gundam and you already have all of this?"

Hanson smiled slightly, "To be fair, a lot of this is because of your aid, and the EU's. We could never have done this much so fast on our own."

"Oh I'm sure you could have. Still, I am impressed."

"I'm sure you're more impressed with the Mobile Suits than the facility Erica."

The brown-haired woman smiled slightly, "You know me so well."

"Of course. Now, I have a little demonstration set up for your visit."

Erica's eyebrow went up, "A demonstration?"

The other engineer just whistled tunelessly, as he changed directions. Erica gave him a suspicious look, as the pair moved off the construction floor and towards one of the training areas. When they actually arrived at an observation window eerily similar to the one in Morgenroete, her brown eyebrow went up. Standing tall in the training area, was the X and one of its mass-produced counterparts.

"Ah, you're going to show me how the Draken performs."

"Indeed. You have shown me the theoretical performance of the M1, so it is the least I can do. And we have been needing a different opinion in any case."

Erica smiled, "Don't want to have tunnel vision I presume?"

"Yes. That is always a risk when developing a new technology. In any case, you might learn something that can be used on the M1. We _are_ supposed to be cooperating."

The woman nodded at that, and turned her attention back to the Mobile Suits. The Gundam X looked much the same as when it had first landed in Norway. The only noticeable differences were a shield based on the Astray's in one hand, and the fact that the rifle had been slightly modified to draw from the machine's reactor. Well, that and the _very_ noticeable lack of the Satellite Cannon. The thrusters had been rearranged slightly to compensate that lack, though that was relatively minor compared to the missing weapon.

The machine standing across from it was a different story. The SMS-01 Draken was clearly based _on_ the X, but it was not a complete copy. It was slimmer, the foaming metal armor being developed from the Astray noticeably different from the strange titanium that the Gundam used. It's head was simpler too...only one V instead of the two on the X. The shield was identical to an M1's, and the rifle was a totally new design unrelated to either the overly complex X's, or the Astray's. And of course, the thrusters were smaller and less powerful, Cosmic Era technology not _quite_ up to the task of replicating the X's yet. It might have been possible were the machine equipped with a Fusion reactor like the Gundam, but that was horrendously expensive, and reserved entirely for elite units that hadn't even been designed yet. Instead, the Draken used a battery. Albeit one more efficient than the M1's, but still a battery.

Turning her attention away from examining the machine's technical specs, Erica watched as their identical green eyes flashed to life. The X made the first move, drawing a practice beam saber, the yellow pole mimicking the green saber it would normally use. The Draken fired a training rifle, the yellow flashes of light flashing against the Gundam's shield.

Inside the cockpit of the aforementioned machine, a dark-haired man grinned, "Aren't getting me that easily!"

The Draken just fired slightly lower, and nearly grazed the Gundam's leg, "And you should not be so cocky."

"Always so serious, even in practice fights Isabel!"

The blonde woman in the mass produced machine just frowned, "And you are never serious."

Luke Oskarson sighed, and chuckled lightly, _Same as always that one._

The young man spun his practice saber, and flared the X's thrusters. The Gundam leapt forward, its saber coming down on the Draken's arm.

"Not that easy."

The mass-production machine dropped its rifle, and flared its own thrusters...in reverse. The X's sword came down on thin air, as the slimmer machine drew its own practice saber. Luke grinned again, as he brought his blade up to catch the blow from the Draken. The nearly-twin machines pushed against the other, before the X's superior strength forced Isabel to back up again. The X lashed down with its blade, the yellow glow leaving an after-image behind it.

The Draken leaned back, the blade missing the machine. Isabel's Mobile Suit brought its own blade around, bouncing off the Gundam's shield.

_Considering that the Draken is a Mass Produced machine, that is impressive,_ Erica mused from the sidelines.

"Great moves!" Luke was rather more vocal, as he pushed forward and disengaged from the other machine.

"The same to you," Isabel replied, holding her blade in a ready stance.

The two machines jumped forward again, clashing in the middle of the training ground. Before they could continue the duel though, Hanson pushed a button on a wall console, "Okay, that's enough! I need you two up here."

"And I was just getting into the swing of things too!"

Inside her own machine, the blonde smiled lightly, "Always enjoying fighting."

"I enjoy _sparring_. There is a difference."

Isabel laughed at that, before moving her machine to its berth. The X stood right next to it, as the two pilots left their cockpits to change from their blue flightsuits into their regular uniforms. Green Army for Isabel and blue Navy for Luke. It was only once they had changed into those uniforms, that they returned to the observation area, where Erica and Hanson were busy comparing notes.

"Reporting as ordered!" Luke barked out.

"You don't need to be so formal with me," Hanson waved a hand.

The pilot grinned, "You're in command here..._sir._"

"Why I ever agreed to work with the military..." the engineer shook his head bemusedly.

"What did you need us for?" Isabel asked, a curious look on her face.

"Not what _I_ need," Hanson replied, "What Mrs. Simmons needs."

The pilots turned to look at the Orb engineer, who waved them over to her side. She was standing over a screen, the device showing a view of an Island-3 type space colony. Something that had gone out of use once the PLANT 'hourglass' became popular. There were only a handful of the old cylinders still in use in fact...such as Scandinavia's Valhalla. But the Scandinavian natives could recognize that this colony was _not_ that one. In fact, it looked older than their nation's colony.

"Heliopolis," Erica answered the unasked question, "Orb's resource colony."

Heliopolis...an old colony, and one that was typically ignored in the grand scheme of things. The only purpose it served at the moment was preventing Orb's homeland from becoming overpopulated, provide a home for Coordinators who wanted to live in space but not in the PLANTs, and mine resources for the resource poor island nation. Nothing special really, so one could wonder why Erica was bringing it up.

"Am I missing something?" Luke asked.

Erica just smiled, "No, but I doubt you know why I am bringing this up. Dr. Hanson didn't either."

"And here I thought you just accepted my offer to see the mobile suits," the engineer in question shook his head.

Isabel frowned slightly, "Why are you bringing this up then?"

In answer, the screen changed from a view of Heliopolis to one of a...Mobile Suit under construction. The machine was little more than a frame, so there weren't any real details to be picked out from it. Clearly not a GINN, but just as clearly not an M1 or Draken. So...what was it? And what did it have to do with Heliopolis?

That was the thought going through both the soldier's heads, before Isabel noticed something. There was a familiar logo on the construction equipment next to the frame of the Mobile Suit. A logo that should _not_ be seen _anywhere_ near one of the deadly machines. After all...

The Earth Alliance should not have any Mobile Suits.

"Noticed who is building this?" the brown-haired woman asked her blonde counterpart.

"Yes...but how does the Alliance have..."

"Sahaku," Erica answered.

"Who?" Luke asked, less than familiar with Orb's Ruling Families.

The female engineer looked at him, "Rondo Ghina Sahaku to be specific. He is an Orb Noble, and owns the Heliopolis Morgenroete facility. I have no real control over what is developed there, but I was told by Lord Uzumi himself to keep an eye on any signs of our new technology leaking..."

"It hasn't, has it?"

"Thankfully not," the brunette replied, "However, Lord Sahaku has been developing his own variant of the M1 design without any of the Gundam's technology. The Earth Alliance got wind of this, and contracted his portion of Morgenroete to develop their own Mobile Suits in secret."

"In secret...on a neutral colony?" Isabel sounded more than a little angry. Anyone who knew her would know why...stuff that endangered innocent civilians was bound to get her angry.

And you didn't get much riskier than building _Mobile Suits_ on a neutral Space Colony. There was a reason that Orb and Scandinavia built their machine's deep underground. Even if they were discovered, there was little risk of civilian casualties. It was the same reason why the Equatorial Union built their own machines deep in a Malaysian rainforest. It was inconvenient as all hell, but it was _safe_. Building them in a Colony was anything but safe...if ZAFT got wind of this, they would _not_ hesitate to take the Alliance's project out. It was one thing for Orb to build Suits on one of their colonies. It was an entirely different story for the _Alliance_ to do it.

Being at war with the Earth Alliance and only winning because of the superiority of Mobile Suits over Mobile Armors...ZAFT was in a precarious spot. If their foe developed and mass produced Mobile Suits, then every advantage they had just flew out the proverbial window. The Coordinator's wouldn't tolerate losing their advantages so easily. Regardless of Orb's neutrality, they would move to eliminate the Alliance's project before it got out of hand.

"Exactly how Lord Uzumi felt," Erica said, not blind to how the other woman felt, "he lacks the authority to unilaterally force the Sahaku family to agree to stop the project however. Especially as the Seirans seem to be supporting it as well."

"So we're stuck?" Luke asked.

"Essentially," the woman nodded, "Yes. That is why I was sent here...to recruit the best engineers and pilots available to infiltrate the project."

Hanson nodded, "And that is why I called you two up here. You're the best Sword has to offer."

"I'm not an engineer," Isabel pointed out.

"No, but _he_ is."

Luke blinked, "I am, but..."

"We need someone on the inside," Erica interrupted him.

"If only to ensure that none of the Gundam's technology reaches the Alliance," Hanson continued.

The two pilots looked at each other. They did understand the risk. They did understand the mission they were being asked to undertake. It was just something neither had ever really _trained_ for. They weren't spies by anyone's definition. And while Luke was an engineer, he wasn't anywhere near a master at it. But if they were ordered to infiltrate the project, they very well _would_ infiltrate it. Have issues maybe, but they would do it.

"Is this an order from Command?"

Hanson nodded again, "Yes. The X and Sergeant Doris' Draken are being loaded aboard the _Sverige_ even as we speak."

The _Sverige_ being the new ship built for Sword based on Orb's _Izumo_. If they were bringing _it_ to Heliopolis, then the Command was entirely serious about this mission. No getting out of something _this_ serious, for good reason. The two soldiers just snapped off salutes, and went to gather their stuff. They would have to spend the trip figuring out what to do...but at least they had the time.

They would need it.

* * *

**January 15th, CE. 71**

**Orb Resource Colony, Heliopolis**

* * *

It had been a couple weeks since the _Sverige_ and its erstwhile passengers had arrived at Heliopolis. The ship itself was currently docked with its machine's in a secure hangar, safe from prying eyes. The passengers in question, Luke and Isabel, were not so lucky. They had been integrating themselves into the Orb colonies social life, in an attempt to 'blend in' better. If they just went straight to Morgenroete with their Scandinavian accents and clear inexperience with Orb culture...they would stick out like the proverbial sore thumb.

Considering that their goal was to _not_ draw suspicion down on the 'new recruits' it was understandable why they were doing what they were. As it sat though, there was only so long they could act like they weren't involved in _something_. So the two pilots were currently standing outside the Morgenroete facility. The maintenance slacks they wore felt...odd. Both of the Scandinavians were far more used to wearing uniforms. Then again, at least they hadn't been asked to wear Atlantic Federation uniforms. Because _that_ would have been odd.

"IDs," a security worker spoke up, his voice sounding lazy.

"Here you are sir," Luke handed over both IDs.

"Hmm. Everything is in order. Welcome to Morgenroete's Heliopolis Center."

"Thank you!"

The two pilots walked into the facility, making a beeline for where intelligence indicated the Alliance was producing their machines. For once, the intel was perfectly accurate even...because as they walked into the facility, the two pilots stopped dead in their tracks. Luke's brown and Isabel's green went wide at what they saw. It was no longer the incomplete husk sitting in front of them

No, the machine they saw was starting to resemble a Mobile Suit. And not just _any_ Mobile Suit.

"Am I seeing things?" Luke whispered.

"No, no you are not," Isabel whispered back.

"So you're seeing a Gundam?"

"Yes."

Sitting in front of the pilots in a construction cradle, was a dull grey...Gundam. There wasn't any other way to describe the machine. It was simpler and more...geometric...than the X, but it still bore the same shape. It had a distinctly less advanced look to it admittedly, but the V-crest, albeit without the X's secondary crest, marked it for what it was. The only other machines to have such a crest were the Astray and Draken...neither of which this machine resembled.

"Admiring the Duel?" a female voice asked, making the Scandinavians turn around.

A woman in the same orange outfit as them, with shoulder length black hair and kind brown eyes, stood behind them. She had a mildly amused look on her face...but her eyes were looking over both the pilots cautiously. Understandable, since they had just now started 'working' there after all.

"Murrue Ramius," the woman said, "G project head of construction. I presume you two are the new engineers command assigned?"

Luke nodded, "Yeah. I'm James Anderson."

"Mary Westbrook," Isabel added.

The code names really did leave something to be desired. But Sword had come through and made passable false IDs for the pair, so at least they didn't have to worry about being ratted out. It would take a _lot_ of work to prove they weren't who they said they were, and considering the Earth Forces had let Sword discover the project in the first place...

Well, they probably wouldn't notice. Or at least, not notice in time to do anything about it at any rate. So long as they didn't do anything overly suspicious any way.

"Hmm," of course, there was the fact that Murrue _already_ seemed a bit suspicious of the pair to take into account, "I will admit, I wasn't expecting more workers assigned to the project so late. Your credentials check out though. Anderson, you're under Hamana on the Strike. Westbrook, you're under Yamamoto on the Duel."

"Yes ma'am!"

It was a minor miracle that the pair of pilots in disguise didn't salute Murrue. Even more so that they didn't salute her in the _Scandinavian_ style, which certainly would have ruined the plans. As it was, the brunette still seemed somewhat suspicious of the pair so they would have to be careful to not do anything to drag her attention to them.

Luckily, the Mobile Suits they had been assigned to did a fine job of keeping them focused. The machines were far more complete than expected...and they certainly hadn't expected them to look like Gundams. Not at all.

_Convergent evolution?_ Isabel wondered, as she stood next to the Duel, _or has someone leaked technology?_

Sword was extremely careful about avoiding any technological leaks. They had to be, to prevent losing their one advantage. But the Mobile Suits here...looked so much like simplified Gundams, it wasn't even funny. The Astray project could explain a certain level of similarity, and the pilots just had to hope that was the case.

"Westbrook!" a dark haired man called out, "You're a programmer correct?!"

"Yes sir!" Isabel replied, though her 'programing skills' amounted to a crash course in the subject over the month or so since she was turned into a spy.

Climbing up into the cockpit of the Duel, the pilot noticed one thing right away. It was _tiny,_ if one could use such a descriptor for a massive machine of death. The Draken, leave alone the Gundam X, had a much more expansive cockpit. The Duel's was far smaller, and had a more primitive interface...three screens, square and simple. The X and its derivative had a panoramic display, with no blind spots other than to their six o'clock. Hitting the Duel in a blind spot would be easy, compared to Scandinavia's machines.

"This cockpit is..." shaking her head slightly, the blonde pulled out a keyboard that was set to the side.

Of course, when she opened up the OS, she got another shock. The 'convergent evolution' theory was starting to look more and more likely in fact. Because the OS formed a curious coincidence. One that she would never have expected.

_MOBILE SUIT OPERATION SYSTEM_

_/ Version NV8-N099 /_

_General_

_Unilateral_

_Neuro-Link_

_Dispersive_

_Autonomic_

_Maneuver_

_Synthesis System_

"Gundam..."

It may have been a coincidence. It may not have. But if you took the first letters of that nonsensical name...you got Gundam. The only reason that Isabel didn't assume that the Alliance had gotten the name from a leak in Sword was because when she dug deeper into the OS...something quickly became apparent. Even to someone like her who had the bare minimum amount of training to pass as a programmer, it was obvious this OS was _horrible._ Clearly, the Alliance hadn't managed to figure out how to make a Natural-friendly operating system.

It was safe to assume that Sahaku hadn't either, for his little Astray Frame project. That was at least something...if a leak came from Sword, it would certainly include the Gundam X's OS, one that could be used just as well by a Natural as a Coordinator. The very fact that the Duel _didn't_ have that...

"Westbrook! Any progress!"

Isabel blinked, and realized she had been in thought long enough that she should have gotten _something_ done. The pilot in disguise did some quick work on the OS, before looking up at the face of her 'superior'. The man looked curious at what she was doing, which was understandable. The blonde didn't really _know_ what she was doing after all. At least Luke had experience with this!

"Not much," she lied quickly.

"Hmm," the man replied, "You aren't the first to have issues with that, I will admit. It was easier building the damn thing than getting a working OS. Keep at it, a new face may be just what it needs."

Isabel nodded, and made an attempt to at least _look_ like she was working.

While she was doing that, Luke was a bit more interested in his machine. The Strike was a totally different beast than the Duel, that was sure. Hell, the Gundam resembled the X to an almost scary extent. There were very noticeable differences, but it still looked similar _enough_ to be scary.

"Whoever designed this thing is psychic," the Scandinavian muttered, "and an idiot. Who relies entirely on detachable equipment? It's useful but I'd take the X over a pair of knives any day..."

While he was monkeying around with the OS, the pilot did come across something a bit more interesting- and useful -than the fact the Strike only came with a pair of toothpicks in its default form. Namely, why the machines were slate grey. Luke had thought it was because they were incomplete...after all, there wasn't much point painting them if you still might have to dig around in the internal 'guts' of the Mobile Suit. That wasn't the case here though...at least not entirely.

_Phase Shift Armor? What do we have here..._ Luke typed some commands into the console, bringing up the OS' file on the armor, _Ohhhh...that's awesome! Completely invulnerable to all but the heaviest physical weaponry! But...powered by the battery, so it's limited. And no good against beams. Never mind, still prefer the X._

He was interested in the PSA, but at the same time, the Scandinavian acknowledged its flaws. For all its use against the primarily _physical_ nature of ZAFT's mobile weapons, it had limitations. Without a nearly limitless fusion reactor like the Gundam X, it would quickly drain the Strike's battery if it took enough hits. Which would, coincidentally, leave the machine with no weapons but its CIWS and the aforementioned toothpicks. Not to mention it was no better against beam weapons than the Astray's foaming metal armor, or ZAFT standard armor. It was true that only the Earth Forces had Mobile Suit scale beam weaponry- to their knowledge -but it would only be a matter of time until ZAFT got the hint themselves.

Then were would a PSA-equipped machine be? Lunar Titanium was far more effective, if almost prohibitively expensive.

"Wonder what else this machine has to offer..."

* * *

Far away, in the civilian sector of Heliopolis, an unusual sight wandered through the streets. A young woman with dirty blonde hair, dressed in an Orb military uniform. Not particularly odd in of itself, considering Orb had always maintained a small militia on Heliopolis to defend from the resurgence of pirates in the Colony Age. What was odd about this particular woman was the fact she was clearly, to those who knew how to look, uncomfortable in her Orb uniform. The reason was readily apparent to any who knew the woman of course.

Because Alexandra Bernhard was a Scandinavian patriot through and through. She had joined Sword to pilot a Mobile Suit, as it was the best way to defend her homeland. She hadn't quite expected to end up wandering through Heliopolis in an Orb uniform instead of one of the new design being issued to the special operations force though. Alexandra was only there because she had been assigned, unlike Luke and Isabel, to try and figure out how much Orb civilians may, or may not, have known about Sahaku's shenanigans with the Earth Alliance.

Hence the Orb uniform.

_I haven't seen _one_ person who knows what's going on..._

Shaking her head slightly, Alexandra nearly ran over a brown haired teenager. The boy reacted unnaturally quickly, ducking out of the dirty blonde's way.

"Sorry! Didn't see you there..." the boy said, his violet eyes a bit wide.

"No worries," the Scandinavian replied, a bit of a Danish accent tinging her voice, "where are you off to in such a hurry?"

"Uhh..." the kid clearly didn't know how to react to a soldier asking that question. At least he didn't recognize her accent.

"That busy huh?"

The kid shook his head slightly, "I was...doing some work for my professor."

_That_ got Alexandra's attention. One of the few things she _had_ heard was that a Professor Kato seemed to be working rather close with Morgenroete. The company already ran the Technical College on Heliopolis, but the Professor seemed to be a bit...suspicious...in his dealings with his parent organization.

"What kind of work?" the young woman asked, her voice taking on a curious tone.

"Programing..." the kid answered hesitantly, "why?"

"Curious," Alexandra shrugged, even if she felt a bit out of her element, "mind if I take a look? I never went to a technical college."

The kid nodded slowly...evidently just as much out of his element as the pilot was. The two sat at a nearby table, the brown haired boy pulling out a computer. The stuff that popped up on it might as well have been gibberish to the young woman though. She wasn't a programer or engineer by any definition. She wasn't an idiot, it just wasn't her specialty.

"Interesting," she said instead, "no idea what it is, but interesting."

"It's programming work for a mining exoskeleton," the boy answered, seeming to relax slightly, "I've been working on it for awhile. The Prof likes pushing this off on me since I'm a..."

"Coordinator?"

The kid nodded warily, "Yeah."

Alexandra just put what she hoped was a comforting smile on her face.

_I am not cut out for this..._

"I'm an Orb soldier Mr..."

"Yamato. Kira Yamato."

The woman nodded, "Kira then. As I was saying, I'm an Orb soldier. I don't have any issues with Coordinators."

The newly identified Kira nodded, a small smile crossing his face. He seemed more at ease now that he knew she had no issue with _what_ he was. And that was a good thing. Because as the kid explained what he was working on, Alexandra started to get a sinking suspicion that she knew what was going on. Kato _was_ working with the G-Weapon project. He was probably using Kira's Coordinator abilities to his advantage...get the kid to work out issues with the OS and frame of what he thought was a mining suit...while actually gaining valuable information for the Mobile Suits.

Quite devious really.

"...and I really have to be going. He is waiting for a project."

Alexandra blinked slightly, as Kira put his laptop up. She nodded her head, a smile on her face.

"Of course, don't let me keep you kid. Nice meeting you."

"You too Miss..."

"Bernhard."

Kira nodded again, a small smile on his face as he waved at the pilot. She watched him go, and sighed slightly. Leave it to the Earth Alliance and those who supported them to use a kid without his knowledge like that...

Well, if she had ever harbored doubts about Scandinavia being a much better place to live, they were gone now. Shaking her head, the pilot got to her feet. She could keep wandering through town to see if any other intel could be gathered...but it was best to get back to the _Sverige_ while she had the chance. This was something that needed to be reported. Sword could do more with the knowledge of what Kato was doing than she could, after all. Alexandra was a pilot, not a spy.

Still, the chance meeting with Kira Yamato would have more of an impact than she may have realized...

* * *

**DX: And there's the chapter! I hope everyone enjoyed it! :D  
**

**Sky: If anyone is curious on exact specs of MS introduced (Draken in this case) I can make up a tech sheet too. Been a long time since I've done one of _those_, admittedly. Side-note: HScMS= His/Her Scandinavian Majesty's Ship.  
**

**DX: Remember to review if you liked the chapter! Next will be the start of the 'proper' story, and will hopefully be up soon.**


	3. Phase 3: Shattered Peace

**AN: Here's the next chapter! Took a bit longer because my comp died on me awhile back...luckily everything important (insofar as the story goes) was saved on Sky's too, so we didn't lose anything! :D  
**

**Sky: Thank God for backups.**

**DX: What he said. Now, I should probably say that the next couple chapters (at least) will be similar to the equivalent episodes of SEED. Things will diverge, but _for now_ that's the case. I hope everyone can still enjoy the story!**

**Sky: As do I. Now, typical disclaimer. We don't own Gundam, and Isabel Doris is the property of northernlion196 while Alexandra Bernhard is the property of Patriot-112.**

* * *

**January 25th, CE. 71**

**HScMS _Sverige_**

* * *

"Three ZAFT warships?"

"Yes sir...two _Laurasia_-class Frigates and one _Nazca-_class Destroyer."

"And they haven't moved from the asteroid?"

"No, not an inch."

"Hmm..."

Captain Eric Lang rubbed his chin, as he looked down on the display aboard the _Sverige_'s bridge. There was an errant asteroid coasting by near Heliopolis, and three ZAFT warships were indeed hovering around it. They probably wouldn't be noticed in most cases, since Heliopolis often had space rocks passing by. But, the _Sverige_ was not your average warship. The technology gained from the Gundam X hadn't just been in Mobile Suit areas. It's sensor net was more advanced than any in Scandinavia, and gave Orb a run for its money.

Hence, the _Sverige_, essentially a heavily modified _Izumo_, had sensors that put most other warships to shame. It had no issues detecting the ZAFT ships. Of course, the ships didn't notice _it_, or they would have been spooked into moving. Lang was quite fine with that though...he was under strict orders to not expose his warship if it could be avoided. He would watch the ZAFT ships and make sure they didn't do anything...untoward...against Heliopolis, but otherwise...they would never know he was there.

Now, that was only true if the ZAFT ships weren't there for the reason he _thought_ they were.

"Bet's that they know about the G-Weapons?" the Captain asked his XO.

Faaris Adani snorted, "That's a fool's bet and you know it sir. Especially with that Alliance transport that just arrived. The ZAFT ships probably tailed it here."

The Scandinavian nodded in agreement with his Equatorial counterpart, "True. Have you IDed the ships?"

"The computer is running their IFF as we speak," the XO shrugged, "_Laurasias_ are ZNS _Gamow_ and _Freund. _The _Nazca_ is...oh...oh dear..."

Lang watched his XO's face pale, and raised an eyebrow, "Yes?"

_"Vesalius_."

If the Captain were a lower rank, he would have cursed at that...outloud. He settled for cursing mentally.

_Damn it! It _had_ to be _him_ didn't it?_

"Rau Le Creuset," the Scandinavian muttered, "of course it would be him. Heliopolis doesn't stand a chance."

"Not if he's here for the G-Weapons," Adani agreed.

"And they wouldn't send _him_ out here for anything less."

To anyone who even remotely paid attention to the Bloody Valentine War, Rau Le Creuset was an infamous name. Easily the best space commander in the ZAFT military, he was a man you did _not_ want to encounter. His skill was only matched by his seeming lack of a functioning moral compass. Le Creuset operated on the 'ends justify the means' side of the war spectrum. He had no issues with blowing aside any opposition that stood in the way of his objectives. Sometimes literally...the man had a fondness for breaking out the 'D-Type' Equipment for his GINNs...designed for fortress busting.

If _he_ were in charge of this operation, and things went like one would expect with the Masked Man...Heliopolis was in serious trouble. If it wasn't outright destroyed, it would probably take severe damage. Obviously, that was not a good thing. And something that Sword, as a secret part of Orb's military as much as it was Scandinavia's, couldn't tolerate.

"Lieutenant Bernhard?" Lang asked, tapping the communications system on his chair...a neat carryover from the _Izumo_.

_"Captain?"_

"Report to the bridge at once."

_"Sir!"_

Larger than its progenitor or not, the _Sverige_ was still not a _massive_ ship by any definition. It didn't take long for Alexandra to reach the bridge, tucking some of her dirty blonde hair into her cap. She looked confused at being summoned so suddenly though...it wasn't like Lang to do that. The confusion faded to be replaced by a scowl, however, when the Captain merely pointed at the sensor readings.

"ZAFT?" the Lieutenant asked, before looking closer, "And it's Le Creuset?"

She was far from an idiot...he had to have called her up to take the Draken out to keep an eye on things.

"Yes, and I want you out there to keep an eye on thi..."

Before Lang could say any more, the alarms started to ring. The source of said ringing was easy to see...the ZAFT vessels had made their move. Something confirmed with a bit of...hacking...to get into Heliopolis' systems.

_"Attention ZAFT vessels, cease your advance at once! Your...action...ar...in...direc...viol...ation...of...your...treaty...with our...nation..."_ the transmission turned to static after that...as the ZAFT warships began to increase the power of their N-Jammers.

And that was something only done in a combat situation. If ZAFT was increasing the power of their jammers...they were attacking outright. Sword would be well within their operational parameters to launch themselves...especially as GINNs were recorded launching from the three ships. But they were under strict orders not to expose the _Sverige_ unless necessary...and hopefully the Draken alone would be enough deterrent, especially if ZAFT didn't succeed on the inside of the Colony.

"Correction, I want you out there to try and stop ZAFT."

Alexandra nodded, "Yes sir! Will I have any support?"

"Not at the moment...we aren't exposing the _Sverige_ unless there isn't any other choice, and both Doris and Oskarson are still inside Heliopolis. You're on your own with whatever forces the Alliance and Heliopolis can muster."

The blonde nodded, snapped off a salute, and ran to her machine. Lang watched her go, before sighing slightly.

"Sir?" Adani asked.

"I didn't expect to actually have to fight ZAFT," the redhaired man replied, "Not so soon anyway. They have to be crazy to attack Heliopolis like this. It violates every treaty Orb made, and will bring consequences down _hard_. Even Lord Uzumi Athha can't just let this slide."

"You think Orb will go to war?"

Lang snorted, "Of course not. They won't go to war unless someone attacks Orb herself. Nor will Scandinavia or the Equatorial Union, I would imagine. No, there won't be a war...but ZAFT is going to be feeling the heat for a long time."

"I don't think they care...if they can steal or destroy the G-Weapons..."

"Point taken."

And for now, all the crew of the _Sverige_ could do was wait and watch...and hope that Heliopolis got out of this situation intact...

* * *

** Heliopolis Exterior**

* * *

Something that would take a miracle. The Heliopolis Militia, a small force at the best of times, fought bravely. But they were horribly outmatched...in both technology and numbers. None of the Gundam's technology had filtered this far down in Orb's military yet, and as a result no M1s flew out to great the GINNs. Instead, small orange Mistral pods fought against the GINNs. Something that might as well have been target practice for the ZAFT pilots. Even with railgun pods fitted to their sides, the pods were more than useless in a battle.

They were primarily construction devices...not meant for combat duty by anyone's definition. Slapping weapons on them did not do anything to change that fact. All it did, was give the GINNs easy prey. The ZAFT Mobile Suits fired rifles and swung swords, and every blow killed an Orb soldier. The only machine's that could remotely stand up to the enemy machines, were the three Mobile Armors that the Earth Alliance had sent to escort the G-Weapon pilots. And even then, there were limits.

Only one machine in the battle truly stood a chance against the GINNs. And that was the orange Mobius Zero, last of its kind.

"Damn it...why here?" Mu La Flaga, last of the elite Mobius Zero Corps, cursed as he spun his Zero around a barrage of rifle fire.

The machine's four gunbarrels spun away, moving to surround the GINN. The ZAFT machine flared its thrusters in an attempt to get out of the net, even as it fired its rifle at the Zero's main body. But Mu La Flaga was not considered the best Natural pilot for no reason. His Zero ducked and rolled away from any fire sent its way, as its own remote weapons fired their lethal payload. The GINN fell away, missing most of its torso as Mu retracted his gunbarrels.

Just in time to dodge a barrage of fire from another ZAFT machine, being chased by one of the purple standard Mobius units that were with the Hawk of Endymion. Who cursed, and toggled his radio.

"Gail! Don't chase it!"

Before Mu's words could register, the GINN flared its wing thrusters and spun around, easily dodging the fire from Gail's Mobius. The green pilot barely had time to scream, before the GINN's sword cleaved through his machine. Mu's return fire knocked off the GINNs sword arm, but the damage was done.

_Damn it...too many kids biting it in this war..._

Dodging more return fire from another GINN, Mu cursed again. It was like he was fated to always survive, while watching the kids bite the dust. Even Endymion...his entire unit wiped out. Mu knew it was his skill, not something stupid like a curse. That didn't make seeing the green pilots getting killed left and right any easier. And as he narrowly avoided getting skewered by a sword blow, the Hawk acknowledged that even _his_ skill and _his_ machine only got him so far.

"Can't we do anything about this difference in power?"

As he dodged a GINN and returned fire with his gunbarrels, Mu wondered about the answer to that question. The G-Weapons were still prototypes...if they would work in combat was anyone's guess. And so, for now, he was on his own. And as Luke's Mobius blew apart in a large fireball, that thought became fact. The mothership crashed into Heliopolis, and suddenly the Hawk of Endymion was alone.

At least ten GINNs surrounded him, and while he had gained his nickname for taking down five of the ZAFT machines in one battle...that was not at once. Even his Zero was no match in these odds.

_Well, look's like its time for a heroic last stand..._

Even as the Lieutenant readied his machine for an attack, he was shocked to a halt. A _pink_ beam- not green like normal beam weapons and the ones used in the G-Weapons -flashed through space. The beam cored through the cockpit of one of the GINNs, blowing the machine apart in an impressive display of pyrotechnics. The battlefield came to a screeching halt, as the GINNs heads snapped around, looking for the source of the beam. Mu noticed it quickly, thanks to his special spatial awareness.

Didn't mean what he saw didn't shock the hell out of him, of course.

"A G-Weapon?!" he shouted, before his brain caught up to the shock, "No, that's not one of them. But it sure as hell looks like one."

The machine floating protectively in front of Heliopolis could easily be mistaken for a G-Weapon. It had the same body and head shape as one of those machines, albeit noticeably sleeker. But the pink beam and the fact it clearly _wasn't_ Duel or Strike- the machine's it most closely resembled -threw it out as one of the prototypes. Mu had to question how someone could make a machine so similar, but right now he wasn't inclined to care.

After all, the machine resumed firing into the ZAFT forces. Regardless of who it was, at least he was helping him.

"Hey, G-Weapon!" Mu called into the radio, as his gunbarrels spun out and provided support for the Mobile Suit, "Not that I'm complaining about the help, but _who_ are you?"

A young woman in an unusual blue fightsuit appeared on the Hawk's monitor, _"Alexandra Bernhard of Sword. I'm here to protect Heliopolis...right now, that means helping you Hawk of Endymion."_

"Sword?" Mu frowned, "Mercenary?"

_"Yes."_

Any further discussion would have to wait, as the GINNs recovered from their shock and returned to shooting at the Mobile Armor and Draken. The two machines spun in different directions, returning fire themselves. Pink beams and yellow railgun shells crossed through space, forcing the GINNs to scatter. Two were not quite fast enough, spinning away missing limbs from their not quite fast enough dodging.

One of the machines, moving better than the others, seemed angered by that sight. The green machine spun through Mu's fire, its thrusters firing in short bursts that spun the Mobile Suit around the yellow bolts. The GINN drew its heavy sword, and pushed at full speed against the Draken.

"Watch out!" Mu called out.

_"Watch,"_ Alexandra replied, placing her rifle on the Draken's left leg.

The white Mobile Suit's free hand reached over it shoulder, and came away with a square object. A square object that was soon revealed as the hilt of a green beam saber. The emerald blade came up, and cut clean through the GINNs saber...along with the machine's right wing. The ZAFT pilot fled as fast as he could, as the undamaged GINNs continued to fire their weaponry.

_She's good_...Mu thought, as he joined up with Alexandra again.

Maybe...just maybe...if they worked together they could defeat ZAFT's forces. Of course, neither of them had any idea of what was going on inside the Colony...

* * *

**Heliopolis Interior**

* * *

"That wasn't a meteor was it?"

"Doubtful."

"Explosion?"

"Maybe...I don't live in space, but I imagine anything else would be more noticeable."

"Point. Then what are _we_ going to do?"

Luke and Isabel crouched behind a trailer, out of sight from the Alliance personnel. They were nearly knocked off their feet some time previously, when a _massive_ shaking had gone through the Colony. Only a couple things could have caused an effect like that. A meteor impact was one, and likely what the civilian population would have expected. Problem being, a strike from a space rock big enough to shake Heliopolis like that would have quite clearly cracked part of the outer shell. The colony wasn't thick enough for something like that to go unnoticed.

Now, if it were something else...like say an explosion in the underground factories that both Scandinavian's knew Morgenroete had...well, that would be a different story. More likely too, considering it was only a matter of time until ZAFT found out about the G-Weapon project. And it would make a hell of a lot of sense for them to attack like this.

"Hurry, to the _Archangel!_" there was also the fact that Murrue Ramius was running around getting said machines moving.

"_Archangel_?" Luke mused, as the trailers carrying Duel, Buster and Blitz started moving.

"We knew they had to have a mothership," Isabel shrugged, "I think we can say the explosion was around it."

Not _just_ around the ship though. Not even a few minutes after the first three G-Weapons vanished around the horizon, the sound of thrusters began to fill the air. And it was quite clearly not friendly...it didn't sound like a Draken, or any aircraft that should have been in Heliopolis. That could only mean _one_ thing.

"Run!"

The two Scandinavians broke from their cover, and jumped into a nearby drainage ditch. Not a moment too soon either, as the sound of 76mm rifle fire began to echo through the factory. Fire washed above the ditch, as a pair of GINNs zoomed by. Poking their heads out of cover, the Scandinavians saw a scene that could best be described as 'apocalyptic'. Fires burned, trailers smoked, and bodies littered the ground. The GINNs had done their work well.

"Prep X105 and X303 for combat! Hurry!" evidently not well enough, as Murrue Ramius continued barking out orders.

"Suicide," Luke muttered, "those machines are not ready."

"Staying _here_ is suicide," Isabel countered, "ZAFT would have blown the factories if they wanted to wreck the machines. They probably have troops on the ground."

Luke cursed, "And what do you expect me to do? I'm a pilot not a soldier damn it!"

Isabel didn't answer, as she reached down to the ground. A rifle came up in her hands, dirty but otherwise intact. The Scandinavian woman racked the slide, and ejected the magazine to make sure the rifle was loaded. Giving a small satisfied grunt, she slammed the magazine home, and sighted down the rifle. Satisfied with what she saw, the blonde turned back to her openly gaping counterpart. Her eyebrow went up slightly, as the sides of her lips twitched upwards.

"Well, it's a good thing _one_ of us is, isn't it?"

The other pilot clamped his jaw shut, "Right...forgot you're from the infantry. Well, lead the way Ms. Soldier."

Isabel just nodded, and hopped out of the ditch. Pulling Luke out with her, the Scandinavian scanned the area. There weren't any ZAFT soldiers in sight..._yet_. It was only a matter of time until some showed up however, she knew that much. So Isabel moved quickly, ducking from cover to cover and making as little noise as possible. Luke attempted to mimic her, but he wasn't trained as a ground-pounder, which she was. It really shouldn't have surprised her then that...

"Alliance Soldiers!"

A ZAFT soldier noticed them. Isabel brought her 'borrowed' rifle up to her shoulder, firing a three-round burst. The enemy soldier tumbled backwards, bloody holes in his green flightsuit. He was not the only soldier however, as more stormed out of the factory.

"Move!" Isabel shouted, as bullets began whizzing around the pilots.

"Don't need to tell me twice!"

The pilots sprinted, Isabel returning fire as best she could, behind a burning trailer. The heat was uncomfortable, but it was better than being filled full of holes.

"Damn it," Luke panted, "I didn't expect them so quick."

"ZAFT Commandos are probably the best there is," Isabel replied, checking her ammo supply, "they move quick."

"I can tell. How are we getting out of this jam? We don't have our Mobile Suits available do we?"

The blonde sighed, "No, we don't."

Ducking her head out of cover to see if the ZAFT soldiers had moved, Isabel was forced to snap it back. Namely, as a bullet clipped her blonde hair. _Snipers...great..._

Sticking her rifle out this time, Isabel fired off a short burst of fire. She was rewarded with a scream of pain...before silence overtook the battleground. The young woman scanned the area for a fresh magazine, and cursed lightly when none were in sight. She had no way of getting more ammo then...Luke had a pistol, but that was hardly good enough for Coordinator commandos. If ZAFT was serious about killing everyone, they were dead.

Luckily for the Sword member's continued survival, ZAFT wasn't. More explosions began to echo through the air, as debris flew down from the sky. Isabel felt herself tugged to the ground by Luke, as a truly massive detonation roared through the sky. Pieces of the factory fell around the Scandinavians, as they saw shadows take to the air. Shadows that quickly formed into familiar shapes...GAT-X105 Strike, stumbling upon landing. And GAT-X303 Aegis, landing elegantly.

"Well, at least one of those was captured," Luke commented, as the Scandinavians shakily got to their feet.

"I'd bet Aegis," Isabel agreed, dropping her rifle as the pilots moved to a safer position. A GINN had landed near the taller G-Weapon, and they had no desire to be spotted by the ZAFT machine.

"That means it's probably Murrue in the Strike," the male pilot agreed, "She's too tough to die that easily."

"But that doesn't mean she can survive..." Isabel winced, as the GINN fired shells at the Strike's feet.

The G-Weapon stumbled around like a drunk, barely maintaining its footing.

"Damn, I wish I had the X."

"I wish I had my Draken. We need to find better cover...I don't want a Mobile Suit falling on me."

"Point taken."

Luke and Isabel sprinted towards a nearby apartment complex, ducking inside its doorway. It was empty, everyone having already evacuated, but at least it provided shelter for them as they watched the Strike and GINN duel. Or, rather, watched the Strike stumble around while the GINN seemed to shrug before drawing its heavy sword. The massive blade came down on the G-Weapon's head...

Or would have, if the Strike hadn't moved its arms to block it. It wasn't that move that was shocking for the pair of pilots though...it was the color scheme of the Strike's Phase-Shift Armor. Brilliant red, white and blue.

"Am I seeing things, or does the Strike look a _lot_ like the X, now that it has color?" the dark haired man asked.

His blonde counterpart shook her head, "No, you aren't seeing things. It's bulkier and doesn't have the green portion but..."

"Good."

The Strike still moved like a drunken monkey was piloting it however. It stumbled around, barely dodging the GINNs almost lazy swings. When the Strike attempted to return fire with its head-mounted CIWS, the shots went wide. The same couldn't be said for the crimson red Aegis, which was clearly manned by a Coordinator. It's shells immolated a jeep, before it took into the air and left the battle. The GINN's rifle barked out shells after that, knocking the Strike around even more.

"Damn it..." Luke muttered, almost pained by the sight.

"Wait a second..." Isabel mused.

Her statement was related to the Strike suddenly moving a _lot_ better. It leaned down as a strike aimed at its cockpit skidded along the PS-armored shoulder. The machine lurched forward, knocking the GINN to the ground. Both Scandinavians blinked in shock, not sure what they were seeing.

"Is there someone else in there?" Luke asked.

Isabel nodded absently, "I think so...it's moving a lot better now."

And indeed it was. The Strike's guns worked, and its fist certainly did its job. A fierce uppercut sent the GINN flying into a building, as the Strike took to the air. The GINN chased it, firing its rifle all the way. The problem then became...better moving or not, the Strike was only armed with knives.

As much as Luke had derided the machine for that, even _he_ was gaping as whoever was inside the cockpit used the knives to great effect. Both were jammed into the GINN, forcing the pilot to abandon the machine. Something that got Luke's eyes wide.

"Duck!"

The two pilots took shelter in the hallway of the complex...as a massive explosion roared through the area...

* * *

**Heliopolis Exterior**

* * *

Outside the colony, the GINNS- those few that remained intact -had fled back to their warships. The Zero and Draken were coasting through space now, near to Heliopolis in case ZAFT tried anything. Mu was curiously watching the Draken as it floated by, still unable to make any real sense out of the machine. He knew mercs had Mobile Suits...Serpent Tail, Murakumo's outfit, came to mind. But those machines were ZAFT standard albeit heavily modified. This machine was nothing like a ZAFT one. It looked like a G-Weapon.

Which, to Mu La Flaga, made him think someone had leaked the project to this 'Sword' group. He was totally off the mark, of course, but the Hawk had no idea of that fact. Nor did he really care honestly...right now, he was just happy for the aid. Regardless of who had built it or where they got the design, he couldn't deny that the Draken was quite an effective machine. Certainly better than the GINNs.

"Yo, Alex," the Hawk asked, "can you tell me anymore about that machine?"

"No," Alexandra replied, sighing lightly at the shortening of her name.

"That secret huh? Guess I can unders...no..."

"Hawk? Something up?"

"I hope not..." Mu muttered, as he turned his Zero slightly.

A familiar sensation went through his head. One he had only felt a handful of times before...most recently at Endymion Crater. The feeling was confirmed, when a voice shouted over both his and Alexandra's radios.

_"Well, if it isn't Mu La Flaga!_" a male voice shouted, _"You are always a thorn in my side...though I imagine you would say the same about _me!_"_

A pure-white CGUE shot out of cover, its rifle nearly blowing the Draken's arm off. Only quick action on Alexandra's part saved her machine's limb. The CGUE shot clear past them, dodging fire from Mu's gunbarrels as it zoomed inside Heliopolis. The pilot in question cursed, as he retracted his remote weapons and flared the Zero's thrusters.

Alexandra blinked, as the Mobile Armor went tearing after the other machine. She hadn't recognized the voice...but Mu clearly had.

"Hawk? Who was that?" the dirty blonde asked, boosting her own machine after the Mobius.

"Rau Le Creuset," Mu answered, "I'm sure you know the name Alex."

The blonde nodded warily, "Who doesn't. And stop calling me that."

"Whatever you say Alex."

Shaking her head slightly, Alexandra dove inside Heliopolis. This part of the colony was not meant for everyday use. It was dark, and crowded with 'buildings' that made it a hazard for navigation. Rather worse for _Mu_ since his machine was designed for straight line flights, not maneuvering in tight confines like this. The dark had its own issues too...even the Draken, with sensors based almost exactly on the Gundam X, couldn't see well in here. Alexandra toggled her external lights, giving her a bit better light.

She didn't know how good a CGUEs sensors were, but she doubted Rau Le Creuset would make an amateur mistake like leading someone into an area where _he_ was handicapped. What she couldn't know, was that the CGUE didn't have super sensors. No, Le Creuset himself was the sensor for his machine...his spatial awareness allowing him to watch the other machines better than even Mu could.

_"I wonder how you will adapt in here,"_ the Masked pilot asked, as his CGUE ducked out of cover and blew away three of Mu's gunbarrels.

"Shit!" the Hawk of Endymion shouted, detaching the compromised weaponry before it could damage his Zero.

"You okay?" Alexandra asked, cursing herself as her pink beams impacted on buildings instead of Le Creuset.

"I'm fine," Mu replied, ignoring blaring status alarms, "A bit cooked, and I've only got the one gunbarrel left. But I'm fine."

The dirty blonde nodded, "Good. I don't think I can handle him myself."

"I'd be surprised if you could. Ole' Metal Mask is nothing if not good."

Le Creuset confirmed the truth in Mu's words, as he ducked out from cover again. This time his shield gatling tore into the Draken's side, cutting gouges through its- relatively -thin armor. Alexandra avoided any critical damage, but it did drive home that her machine lacked PSA or Lunar Titanium. It couldn't take too much damage.

"I can tell!"

Mu grimaced, as he deployed his remaining remote weapon, "Cover me Alex!"

"Stop calling me that!"

Regardless of her annoyance with the Ace, Alexandra did what he asked. Her beam rifle spit pink bolts at the CGUE, which dodged the bolts easily enough. Part of Heliopolis burned, melted, and flung into space. But not one bolt hit the white Mobile Suit. Rau Le Creuset proved his skill with every dodge...and with an amazing move. His machine boosted 'up' relative to Mu's remaining gunbarrel. It came down, gracefully 'tapping' the barrel with one foot before boosting away.

The remote weapon crumpled like a tin-can, its remaining ammunition detonating from the force of the impact. Mu cursed again, now down to nothing but his linear cannon.

"Damn it!"

He was lucky though...Le Creuset didn't finish the job. He seemed to tire of the battle, as he spun away and opened up with all his weapons at the side of the shaft...

* * *

**Heliopolis Interior, Sometime Earlier**

* * *

_Where...where am I?_

Murrue Ramius wearily opened her eyes, groaning slightly as her arm protested her movement. Blinking her brown orbs, the Lieutenant looked around. She was clearly _not_ where she last remembered being. Instead of the cramped cockpit of the Strike, she was laying down on a bench under a gazebo. And instead of a young brown haired male, there was a brunette girl looking down on her with a relieved expression. The girl's blue eyes held a kind look, as she turned away from the Alliance soldier.

"Kira! She's awake!" the girl called out.

Murrue turned her head slightly, and saw the teenager she had been expecting to see come walking over. The boy looked a bit relieved that she was okay, his purple eyes doing little to hide his emotions. The Lieutenant couldn't help but smile slightly at that...even as she winced again. Her arm was bandaged as well as she could expect from a group of teenagers.

Not very well, in other words. It sufficed though, as she moved to a sitting position.

"Here, have some water," the girl spoke again, handing Murrue a bottle.

"Thank you," she nodded gratefully, "How did I..."

The boy answered that question, "We, my friends and I, helped you out of the cockpit and bandaged your arm. I'm sorry we couldn't do more."

"Don't be," Murrue replied with a small smile, "You've done more than enough."

Kira smiled slightly himself, "Thanks."

The Lieutenant nodded, before turning her head slightly. She heard other voices...

"Guys, stop messing around in there!" a lighter-haired teenager complained, looking up at the dormant Strike.

Murrue felt her eyes narrow despite the situation, as she saw a pair of kids monkeying around in the cockpit. She was going to get to her feet and retake control of the situation, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"While I'm glad you're okay, let the kids be," Luke said, "Besides, I've already locked the Strike down. Only myself, you and Mr. Yamato here can do anything with it."

"James? And Mary too?" the Alliance soldier asked, seeing Isabel standing behind Luke, "You survived too?"

"Yep," the man replied, "Almost got shot to pieces a couple times, but we're fine."

The brunette blinked, "I thought I was the only survivor. It's good to see I was wrong...but what do you mean, you locked down the Strike?"

Luke shrugged, "Exactly what I said. No one will get that thing moving without hacking it, or without the codes. Which only I, and Mr. Yamato, have. Here they are."

Murrue nodded slightly, and studied the paper. Once she had the code locked in her memory, she looked back at the machine. She _should_ have been shooting at the kids. But right now, she needed rest. And help for that matter...it was only a matter of time till ZAFT came back. They wouldn't leave even one G-Weapon in Alliance hands...it would ruin their mission. They wouldn't have attacked Heliopolis, just to let the Alliance make off with one of their machines.

Especially not the, arguably, most dangerous of the bunch.

"How much power does the Strike have left?"

"Not enough, if that's what you're asking. Not to mention the kid managed to lose its only weapons."

Kira had the good grace to look sheepish, "Eh..."

"Not your fault," Murrue smiled slightly, "James, Mary...do either of you know where the number 5 trailer is?"

Isabel nodded, "The Launcher Striker? Yes, I do. Why that one though?"

"Aile and Sword would be too difficult to mount. The Launcher is the easiest Pack to mount."

"Got it. Argyle! You're coming with me!"

Isabel and Sai Argyle wandered off, to track down the trailer in question. Murrue sighed slightly, and turned to Kira. The teen was looking at her warily...like he knew what she was going to ask. In retrospect, that shouldn't be surprising. He was clearly the only one who could fly the Strike...and Murrue had her suspicions as to why that was the case.

That could wait though.

"Kira, can you try contacting any surviving Alliance forces?" the Lieutenant asked.

"Yeah, I can do that," if anything, Kira looked relieved she wasn't asking him to fight as he climbed into the Strike.

And thus began several minutes of futilely trying to contact anyone. ZAFT had clearly not left, as their jamming continued to mess with the communications. On top of that, the Strike was too heavily drained to actually connect with anything. It was pointless trying, but they had to try. At least until the Launcher Striker arrived a few minutes later. The green pack was secure, and ready for use. It was a sensible precaution to keep it charged...however odd it was.

Regardless, with the pack already precharged, it was just a matter of attaching it to the Strike and using its existing power to boost the Gundam's drained battery. Maybe then they would have enough power to break through the jamming. Though Luke rather doubted that...ZAFT probably eliminated damn near every Alliance base in Heliopolis.

"Which part is the power pack!" Kira stuck his head out of the Strike.

"The pack is integrated! Mount the whole unit!" Murrue called back.

_Seems stupid to me...makes more sense to have detachable batteries. Then again, they _did_ give it nothing but toothpicks in its default form_...

Luke had never really gotten over his problems with the Strike's design. It was his ego talking mostly, since he _was_ the pilot of the GX and all. But with that machine sitting pretty on the _Sverige_, all he could do was sit and wait for the Strike to do the work. At least ZAFT had sto...

"Did you hear something?" Isabel asked, cocking her head to the sky.

"Gunfire...Mobile Suit gunfire..." Luke muttered.

"The Central Shaft," Murrue added, looking up as smoke began to pour from the shaft.

Smoke...and a massive detonation. Flames spewed forth, as a CGUE shot out of the fire. Following it came a Mobius Zero, sans gunbarrels, and another mostly-white Mobile Suit. Luke and Isabel recognized it as Alexandra's Draken...Murrue just thought she was seeing things, as _another_ G-Weapon chased the CGUE. Credit where credit is due...she didn't let it stop her.

Shock over the machine could wait, as the CGUE broke away from its pursuers by chopping aside the Zero's one remaining weapon. The ZAFT machine dove on the Strike, even as Murrue Ramius ran at the Gundam.

"Hurry! Mount the pack!"

Even as she said that, the Lieutenant went tumbling to the ground. For an even more massive explosion roared through Heliopolis...as a massive white warship broke into the Colony's interior...

* * *

**DX: Like I said above, pretty similar. I do hope everyone enjoyed it still! Now, I should note that Alexandra (while a good pilot) isn't at Mu or Rau's level. She did as well as she did from shock factor and the fact that the Draken is a far superior machine compared to ZAFT standard.**

**Sky: Basically a dumbed-down GX and all. And the _Sverige_ is, as said in the chapter, a heavily modified (and upsized) _Izumo_. Tech sheets for both the MS and ship can be put together, if anyone particularly _wants_ them. Even if I am out of practice in that regard.**

**DX: Still better than me since I've never done it ;)**

**Anyway, next update will hopefully be up soon. Let us know what you think!**


	4. Phase 4: Shattered Land

**AN: And we managed to put together another fast update! I hope everyone enjoys that!**

**Sky: Though it's worth mentioning we won't _always_ be able to post so fast.**

**DX: True. I also thank everyone who reviews. It's always nice to see the story getting interest! Now, on with the chapter!**

**Sky: Disclaimer as per-usual: We don't own Gundam, and Isabel Doris is the property of northernlion196 while Alexandra Bernhard is the property of Patriot-112 and Jaden Takeo is 117Jorn's.**

* * *

**January 25th, CE. 71**

**AFS _Archangel_**

* * *

"Strike's active...no its in combat!"

"Another G-Weapon is dueling the CGUE. ID unknown!"

A dark-haired woman scowled, "Great..."

The bridge of the new Earth Alliance warship _Archangel_ was nearly empty. Most of the crew had been killed during the detonations that Luke and Isabel had felt. The few survivors were manning the ship as best as they could, but everyone on the bridge at this moment should not have been in their positions. The highest ranking crewman was an _Ensign_. Natarle Badgiruel, the woman currently sitting in the Captain's Chair, was out of her element. She was from a military family, and had some level of training in warship combat.

She was _not_ trained for taking command of the most advanced vessel in the Alliance navy. There was nothing for it though...she was the highest ranking officer aboard the vessel, and that meant she was in command. At least she knew _enough_ to fight the ship. She had to, considering the CGUE had broken off its attack on the Strike and moved to perform a strafing run on the _Archangel_.

"Igelstellungs, fire!" Natarle barked out, as the white machine fired its own rifle.

Dozens of weapons emplacements along the _Archangel's_ hull opened up, spitting thousands of rounds at the ZAFT machine. Le Creuset was not a novice pilot, however. And while he was suitably impressed by the volume of fire coming his way, he easily dodged around it. He was rather more impressed with the warships armor in any case...Rau well knew how much explosives had been planted around it. And the fact that his fire had done little more than scratch the paint...

_Impressive. I may have underestimated the Earth Forces..._

Rau frowned lightly as three missiles launched from their tubes on the new warship. His CGUE flared its thrusters and moved around the missiles. The first he lead into the central shaft, caring little of the damage it could do. The second fell to a single bullet from his rifle. The third crashed into an abandoned factory. He gave credit to the _Archange__l_ for having impressive firepower...but it clearly couldn't hit him.

"If I can't harm the ship, I'll take down the Strike!"

The masked commander dove down on the last G-Weapon...only to flinch back, as a pink beam went through his rifle. Dropping the weapon before it could detonate in his hand, Rau's head snapped around.

The other mobile suit lowered its rifle, and drew a green beam saber. Rau frowned lightly, and drew his own sword. It appeared that he would have to deal with this frustrating machine before the Strike. No matter, it was just a slight delay. Regardless of what had happened to Miguel, it was doubtful that the machine could handle his CGUE.

Oh how wrong he was.

_What?!_

Rau's head snapped around, as his special sensory ability flashed a warning. He barely moved his CGUE out of the way of a truly _massive_ bolt of red-white energy. The source was the Strike, holding a long green weapon. Rau cursed softly, as he spun away from the battle and towards the hole in Heliopolis that blast had made. His sword was vapor, along with the Mobile Suit's right arm...he couldn't fight with just his shield gatling.

"Incredible...a Mobile Suit with that much power..."

As the CGUE fled out the newly created hole, Natarle slumped in her seat. It hadn't been a long battle by any definition...but it was draining all the same. Turning away from the view of the fleeing ZAFT machine, the young woman looked at the 'G-Weapon' currently hovering in front of her ship. Her purple eyes narrowed slightly at the sight.

Natarle was not involved in the construction of the G-Weapons. She had, on occasion, looked at the designs in her spare time though. Planned out possible tactical uses of them, stuff like that. She had not _once_ seen one that looked like this one though. Not to mention the green beam saber and pink beam rifle were the reverse of a standard G-Weapon armament. The rifle should fire green beams, and the saber should be pinkish red.

"Match rotation, and bring us in for a landing. And attempt to contact the G-Weapon," the Ensign softly spoke.

The _Archangel's _massive engines flared slightly, matching its speed to the rotation of the colony beneath it. There was no luck with contacting the mystery Mobile Suit though...as it took up a position next to the Strike. Natarle watched that, before shaking her head lightly. The moment the ship landed, she stood from her chair and left for the hangar.

Hopefully she would get the answers she needed down there...

* * *

Natarle wasn't the only one who felt the need for answers of course. Murrue was staring wide-eyed at the Draken, as she got out of the Strike's hand. One couldn't blame her for that...the Scandinavian machine- not that she knew that little fact -struck quite the imposing figure. It looked even more advanced than the G-Weapons...which should not, intellectually, have been possible. The G-Weapons were the cutting edge...nothing existed more advanced than they were. It shouldn't have been possible.

And yet, the machine staring down on her seemed to be mocking that thought.

"Admiring the Draken?" a male voice asked.

Murrue spun around, and saw Luke giving her a shrug.

"How do you..."

"Know what it is?" the pilot asked, "Because I helped design her, believe it or not."

The Lieutenant was not an idiot. She could put two and two together easily enough.

"You...stole information from the G-Weapon project?!"

Of course, that didn't mean she could put two and two together _correctly_. Not that she had any way of knowing about the Gundam X. Still, Luke sighed slightly. He _could_ have continued the act, but the very fact that Alexandra had launched meant that the 'jig was up' to use the English term. Trying to hide who he, and Isabel for that matter, were was pointless. Even if his fellow pilot had managed to convince the pilot of that Mobius, presumably Mu La Flaga, that she was a mercenary that wouldn't last for long.

Not least because Luke fully expected Captain Lang to contact Command who would probably then claim the _Archangel_ for Orb. Regardless of it being built for the Alliance, the fact was it was a violation of their treaty...that was going to come down _hard_ on the Sahaku family, and more importantly, on the Alliance.

"Good guess, but no," Luke replied, "The Draken was already built _long_ before I ever knew about your project."

Murrue sighed, and pinched her nose, "I should have you arrested for espionage...but that's well beyond my authority."

"And would be hypocritical," Isabel spoke up, after making sure the kids were settled, "you built these things on a neutral colony, violating several treaties. If anyone should be arrested..."

Harsh maybe, but if there was one thing guaranteed to get on Isabel's bad side, it was endangering civilians. And building a top secret Mobile Suit project while having the full knowledge that ZAFT would attack such a project...it was stupid. Heliopolis should never have even been under _consideration_ for such a project. Reckless endangerment...that was what the G-Weapons were.

And the brunette Alliance soldier couldn't deny that. In fact, she internally winced at those words...and the truth in them. She was a low ranking engineer...not anyone who could have chosen where to build the G-Weapons. If she _had_, she would have said build them on the Moon. Not only was it safer for civilians, it made a hell of a lot more sense. The EA had no forces other than the remote and undermanned Artemis Base near Heliopolis. If something went wrong, like it had, there was nothing that could be done for the _Archangel_.

_I can't understand what they were thinking..._

"I can understand how you feel..." Murrue began.

"Can you?" Isabel's eyebrow went up.

The Lieutenant winced, "I can. I had no say in where the G-Weapons were built...believe me, I would not have built them here."

Isabel sighed lightly, "I don't doubt you."

Murrue practically sagged in relief...but that didn't last long. Because the sound of footsteps revealed the greatly diminished crew of the _Archangel_ approaching. A handful of white-uniformed soldiers, with four carrying assault rifles. Isabel's hand went to her own rifle, while Luke sent a look towards the Draken. The machine flashed its green eyes once. Alexandra was ready to cover them with the bulk of her Mobile Suit if needed.

"Lieutenant Ramius!" Natarle called out, recognizing at least one face in the group.

"Ensign Badgiurel?" Murrue asked, "I am glad to see a friendly face."

"As am I," the dark-haired woman replied, though her eyes flickered up at the Draken, "are you alright?"

The brunette nodded, "Yes, I have these kids to thank for that."

The last of the 'kids' opened the Strike's hatch and chose that moment to disembark from his machine. Whispers broke out amongst the Alliance crew, while inside her Draken, Alexandra's eyes widened slightly.

_Kira Yamato? How did he end up in there?_

"You've got to be kidding me, a kid? Just learned how to shave and _he's_ piloting that thing?" one of the _A__rchangel_ mechanics was rather more vocal.

Luke just sighed, "I'm more worried about a kid with that much firepower. That thing's worse than anything short of the Satellite Cannon."

Thankfully he said that quietly enough that only Isabel heard him. The Scandinavians certainly weren't ready to tell anyone about _that_ little feature of the Gundam X.

"Lieutenant Ramius?" Natarle sounded confused, "What's going on?"

Murrue looked at the kids, before sighing. She was going to answer as best she could, but another figure interrupted her. Walking up in his, very, non-standard purple flightsuit was Mu La Flaga. The pilot had taken off his helmet, revealing a head of blonde hair as he walked up to the group. His blue eyes watched the Draken, before turning to the women in front of him. The famous pilot snapped off a salute, as he looked at Murrue.

"Lieutenant Mu La Flaga, of the Seventh Orbital Fleet," the man introduced himself.

"Lieutenant Murrue Ramius, attached to the G-Weapon Project."

"Ensign Natarle Badgiurel, same unit."

Mu nodded slightly, "Good to meet you...but may I ask who is in charge here? My ship was shot down in the battle, so I don't have anywhere else to go."

Natarle looked down, "The Captain...and all the high ranking officers were greeting the pilots in the observation deck. None survived...I'm afraid Lieutenant Ramius is the highest ranking officer remaining."

"I am?" Murrue blinked, before sobering, "The Captain..."

The Hawk of Endymion sighed, "Man oh man...well, permission to come aboard Lieutenant?"

"Uhh...permission granted."

The blond smiled slightly, before turning his eyes to the Draken. The blue orbs looked at the machine curiously, before a smile broke out on his face. Mu waved at the machine cheerfully, getting sweatdrops from some of the crew. And the pilot for that matter, who nearly cracked her head on her controls.

"Yo, Alex! You can come down y'know!"

"'Alex'?" Luke muttered.

"La Flaga is famous for his sense of humor," Isabel muttered back with a shrug.

Either way though, the Draken's cockpit _did_ open, as a blue-suited figure lowered herself down a zipline. Alexandra sent a long-suffering look at Mu, before moving to stand next to the other Scandinavians. It wasn't surprising really that she was more comfortable with her countrymen. It did lead to an interesting divide in the hangar though. Alliance soldiers stood in their group, the Heliopolis civilians in their group, and the Scandinavians apart from both. Of course, one particular teenager in the middle group was staring at the last group with wide purple eyes.

"Miss Bernhard?" Kira asked, shock tinging his tone.

The dirty blonde nodded, "Nice to see you too kid. I do wonder how you got in that machine though."

"Err...it was an accident..."

Alexandra smiled slightly, before Mu walked up to the group. The pilot looked quite curious with both his counterparts, though admittedly more so with the dirty blonde. After all, she _had_ been flying with him.

"So Alex," the Hawk began, smiling at her look, "you a Coordinator? I've never seen anyone make a Mobile Suit dance like that before...certainly not against Rau Le Creuset."

The woman shook her head, "Nope, Natural. The Draken is just extremely advanced."

Mu frowned, "Natural? I'll admit, I'm curious how you can fly that machine then. The G-Weapon pilots could barely make them move in simulations."

Murrue was just as confused. She looked up at the machine that so closely resembled the G-Weapons. She couldn't make sense of it...no matter what Orb or the Alliance did, they couldn't seem to get the OS on those machines working. Naturally she had no idea that _Orb_ not the _Sahaku __Family_ actually did have working OS for their machines. To the Lieutenant, it just seemed hard to believe. Natural-use operating systems were _not_ easy to make.

"How did you create a working OS?" she asked the blonde pilot.

"We've had it for some time," Alexandra shrugged, "And no, you can't have it."

Natarle's jaw clamped shut, getting chuckles from a few of the crew. Mu especially, though he sobered up relatively quickly. Turning back to Alexandra after examining her machine, his smile was still on his face though.

"Well then, you'll have to let me take her for a spin sometime," the Hawk said, "I've been wanting to try a Mobile Suit out. Anyway, if _you_ aren't a Coordinator, would I at least be right in assuming _you_ are kid?"

Kira blinked, "Yes..."

The soldiers in Alliance white quickly had their rifles pointed at Kira. His friend Tolle stood in front of him, ready to yell at the soldiers. Isabel preempted that though. Her own rifle was up, as she stood in front of the group of teenagers. Her green eyes were narrowed slightly, as she glared at the Alliance soldiers. They had just hit a nerve and had no idea what they had done. Mu and Murrue seemed to though, as they seemed torn from gaping like a fish, and glaring at the marines.

"He's a Coordinator, but a civilian first and foremost," the blonde said, "I would appreciate it if you _didn't_ aim guns at him."

"Lower your weapons men," Murrue took command.

The soldiers, reluctantly, did so. They continued to look at Kira like he was an alien though. Mu just sighed and scratched the back of his head, "Heh...I didn't mean to cause a ruckus, I was just curious. Got nothing against Coordinators myself."

"And that's a good view to have," Luke spoke up for the first time in awhile.

Mu nodded, "Yep. Now that that's out of the way though...we need to get moving."

Murrue frowned, "Why is that?"

"In case you didn't notice, I just got shot down. The Le Crueset team is waiting outside this colony...and he's not the type to just give up. We'll need to get out of here soon, if we don't want to damage Heliopolis," Mu sighed, "Can you help us there Alex?"

Alexandra nodded, "Yes, I have orders to make sure no damage comes to Heliopolis. For now, that includes helping this ship."

"Good. Now, we should probably get moving."

Mu wandered off to change into a regular uniform, while the rest of the crew followed him. They had work to do...

* * *

**Sometime Later**

* * *

"You've got to be kidding me! I didn't sign up to join this war!"

"Kira..."

"No! This isn't our fight! We live in neutral territory for a reason!"

_I expected this. Can't blame the kid...not everyone is cut out to be or _wants_ to be a soldier_... Alexandra thought, leaning against a wall as Kira Yamato yelled at Murrue Ramius.

"I know that," the Lieutenant continued, "But...even so..."

"I don't want to be more involved than I already am," Kira protested, "I flew that thing, yeah. But that's because I didn't have a choice. I don't want to get anywhere near it anymore."

Murrue sighed, "I don't blame you. I do understand where you are coming from Kira. But...you're the only one who can..."

"I am _not_ the only one who can fly it. Miss Bernhard is a Natural, so can't she change the Strike's computer so Lieutenant La Flaga can fly it?"

Alexandra shook her head, "Sorry, can't kid. I have orders to _not_ share the Draken's OS with anyone. The Strike's stuck the way it is."

Kira scowled, turning his head to avoid looking at the older women. Neither of whom could blame him for his reaction. Coordinator or no, Kira Yamato _was_ just a teenager. One who had never had to experience war at that. It would be too much to expect to have him willingly climb into a Mobile Suit and continue fighting. Maybe if he came from a military family, like Isabel, he might have been willing to. So far as anyone could tell though, Kira did _not_ come from such a family. The odds weren't that high anyway, since he was an Orb citizen and that nation's military was far from large.

Still though, Murrue _hadn't_ been lying. She was trying to convince Kira to fly the thing for a reason. The _Archangel_ was powerful...but its weapons stood more chance of wrecking the _Colony_ than anyone attacking it, should Le Creuset do what everyone expected and attack inside Heliopolis. The Draken was also powerful...but Alexandra was _not_ Rau's level, regardless of her machine being better. Nor could she be everywhere at once...enough machines could overwhelm even the Draken.

Thus...

"I don't want to fight," Kira continued, "I shouldn't _have_ to fight."

"No you shouldn't," Alexandra agreed, "But, the shelters are all locked down. You and your friends have no way off this ship, and so long as you are aboard..."

Murrue was a smart woman, and caught on quickly to what her Scandinavian counterpart was saying, "You and your friends will be in danger."

The teenager scowled again, "I know that!"

Alexandra sighed, and leaned down slightly, "Then you have to fly the Strike. The last thing I, or Lieutenant Ramius I assume, want to make you do is fight. But I can't handle ZAFT on my own, and the _Archangel_ is more likely to destroy Heliopolis if it uses anything bigger than its anti-air weaponry."

As the Scandinavian said that, she looked at Murrue. The Lieutenant nodded her head slightly...she wasn't going to order anything heavier than that, so long as Kira flew too.

For his part, Kira could easily remember the Agni...and imagine what the much larger _Archangel_ could do. He had no desire to see Heliopolis- his home -destroyed.

"I don't have a choice, do I?"

"Everyone has a choice, but we do need the help."

Kira opened his mouth to reply to that, but he was cut off fairly quickly. The screen on the wall behind Murrue started ringing with an alarm, prompting the Lieutenant to turn away from the Coordinator. Alexandra followed her, as the only- confirmed -Mobile Suit pilot aboard. At least until they could contact the _Sverige_.

"Yes?" Murrue asked, once she pressed a button on the panel.

Mu La Flaga's face appeared on the screen, a serious look on it for once.

_"We need you up on the bridge!"_ the pilot began, _"ZAFT isn't waiting for us to leave the colony. You're in command Captain!"_

"Wait...I'm the..."

_"I technically outrank you, but I don't know the first thing about this ship!"_

Murrue frowned, "Very well. Take us to Level One Battlestations. Is your Mobius ready?"

_"No, it's still being worked on."_

"Then please take command of the CIC, Lieutenant," as the viewscreen whited out, Murrue turned back to her companions, "Miss Bernhard, can you please launch?"

Alexandra nodded, "Right away."

"Good. Kira...I'm not going to force you to take the Strike. If you do, I thank you. But I won't make you."

Kira's fists clenched at his side. This wasn't fair...he hated it. He had only flown the Strike before because he had been tossed in the cockpit and would have _died_ if he hadn't. That didn't mean he wanted to fly it _again_. He wasn't a pilot...he wasn't a soldier. He was a teenager who's greatest worry should have been finding a girlfriend. Not flying a giant machine of death...that was built on a neutral colony at that.

He wasn't even a citizen in a warring power. Orb was neutral...there should be _no_ reason he should fly the Strike. Not least because it shouldn't have even been on Heliopolis. It was because of that machine that his home was attacked. So he could hardly be blamed for not wanting to fly it. By the same token though, he didn't really have a choice. For all that Alexandra said he did, it didn't change anything. If he didn't fly that thing, the _Archangel_ would be at risk. Heliopolis would be at risk...if the Draken couldn't keep the GINNs off the _Archangel_, the warship would have to use its main cannons. And that could do more damage to the Colony than it could take.

Could he really live with himself if something happened to Heliopolis because he refused to fight?

_No...I couldn't..._

"I'll fly the Strike," Kira spoke up.

Murrue nodded, a grateful smile on her face, "Thank you Kira."

Alexandra, by contrast, had a calculating look on her face.

"You sure about that?"

Kira nodded, "Yes. I don't like it...but I can't just sit here."

"Okay. Come on then, let's get down to the hangar."

* * *

It was a wary Kira Yamato who walked the Strike onto the _Archangel's_ starboard catapult. He hadn't bothered changing into a flightsuit like his female counterpart on the port side, but he still felt uncomfortable. The Strike's cockpit was small and felt constricting to him...considering he had never even wanted to be _in_ the thing in the first place. But...at least he could do something to keep his friends safe.

Latching onto that thought, Kira only briefly noted that the Strike was equipped with it's 'Sword Striker' this time. At least now he didn't have to worry about blasting another hole in Heliopolis. Though he didn't have the slightest clue how to use a sword, of course.

"Kira Yamato," he said, before gulping slightly, "Strike heading out."

The catapult pushed him back in his seat, as it flung the Gundam out into the colony. Kira grimaced at the uncomfortable feeling, before righting his machine. Alexandra's Draken floated up next to him, beam rifle drawn and pointed in the distance. The distance where yet another hole had been blasted into Heliopolis. Four machines came pouring into the colony...three GINNs, one armed with an Ion Cannon and the other two with missile launchers.

The final machine was crimson red and easily recognizable.

"The Aegis..." Alexandra muttered, "Let me handle him ki..."

"I'll deal with the Aegis."

The Scandinavian blinked at the...determination...in Kira Yamato's voice. Considering he had just been determined _not_ to fight...

"You sure?"

"Yes."

Alexandra nodded, "Okay then. I'll handle the GINNs."

The Draken boosted away, as the Strike brought up its massive anti-ship sword. The Aegis flew towards the Gundam...but was forced aside as the Ion Cannon GINN fired a green beam at the Gundam. Kira's eyes widened in the cockpit, as he pushed the thrusters to maximum. The Strike flew above the massive bolt of energy, as it blew an abandoned apartment complex to tinder.

Inside the cockpit of the ZAFT machine, Miguel Aiman scowled.

"Tch, I missed. He's surprisingly agile."

The GINN brought its massive cannon to its shoulder, and fired another beam at the Strike. Kira dodged to the side, causing the beam to miss him completely. Miguel was _not_ an amateur by any definition of the word however. The GINN merely fired where the Strike dodged. The teenager at the control's cursed slightly as his eyes widened. The Strike barely avoided the second beam, the green light blinding Kira.

When his eyes refocused, Kira was barely able to bring his shield up in time to block another bolt from the GINN. The, relatively, tiny shield took the blow admirably...but the sheer force behind it pushed the Strike back somewhat. Gritting his teeth, the teenage Coordinator flared the Strike's thrusters. It's sword was brought up, as the Gundam charged out of the smoke.

Miguel's eyes widened, as he saw that. His GINN barely dodged the swing...and wouldn't have dodged it, were Kira a more experienced pilot. As it was, the two machines began firing and slashing at each other in a deadly dance.

Far away, Alexandra had her own problems.

"Hold still will you..."

Namely, the GINNs were surprisingly maneuverable considering their missiles.

_"Alex! Hurry up before they get those missiles shot!"_

Mu wasn't helping either.

"I know that..."

Bringing her beam rifle up once more, Alexandra sighted in on the frontmost GINN. The green machine flashed red in her targeting scope...as a pink beam leapt from her rifle's barrel. The beam flew straight and true, cutting through the GINN's cockpit. The machine blew apart in an impressive fireball, and Alexandra turned her attention to the second one. She didn't notice a pair of missiles flying towards the center of Heliopolis though...

_Okay, time for the other one_...

Perhaps seeing his comrades demise, the pilot of the remaining GINN fired off his missiles in a panic. Alexandra cursed, as the projectiles missed the _Archangel_ entirely, and slammed into the central shaft of the Colony. Her beam saber cleaved through the GINN...but it was too late. Far away from her little duel, Kira started to feel the shaking that announced the collapse of Heliopolis.

His eyes widened in his cockpit, as he dodged another bolt from the GINN that had avoided all his attempts to down it. Realizing how little time he had left to fight, the teenager reached the Strike's open hand towards its shoulder. The hand came away with a glowing pink blade, that Kira threw on instinct. The blade spun through the air, creating a halo effect as it flashed past Miguel's machine.

"Have to do better than...what?!"

The ZAFT Ace, one of their best pilots, was not immune to surprises. Such as the fact the beam 'knife' was actually a beam _boomerang_. The pink blade cut through his machine's legs, and that was soon the least of Miguel's worries. The Strike came charging forward...anti-ship sword raised high. Miguel closed his eyes, sending a silent prayer to his family...

As the Sword Strike cut clean through his GINN.

"Miguel!" Athrun yelled, as the Mobile Suit blew apart in a massive fireball.

For his part, Kira turned away from the destroyed GINN, and raised his sword on the Aegis. Debris fell around him, as the Strike looked at its counterpart. The two G-Weapons circled one another, weapons raised and ready to be used. Though neither pilot had any desire to use it on his counterpart...they couldn't.

"Kira? Kira Yamato?!" the blue-haired pilot asked, as Heliopolis began to come apart around them.

"Athrun Zala?" Kira asked...his fears confirmed.

The same went for the blue-haired teen, who had been extremely worried this would happen. He couldn't...believe that Kira would work with the Alliance.

"What are you doing in that thing?!"

"You're one to talk! I thought you hated war!"

Athrun was going to counter that statement...tell Kira about Junius Seven. But he never got the chance...as the fractured Colony finally _snapped_. Land fell apart, as the atmosphere was forcibly sucked into space. The Sword Strike lacked the thruster power to even begin to compensate...and was sucked out into space. Kira screamed as he was tossed around in the cockpit, while Athrun watched, pain running through his heart.

"Kira!"

* * *

**DX: Personally, I'm enjoying the way we're developing things. Juggling the characters is fun though...never had to do that before.**

**Sky: I did it once...this is going better than it did. Remember though, let us know if anything seems...off. Especially if you submitted a character, since we are trying to keep them in the bounds of what was submitted.**

**DX: Though the Alexandra/Kira thing (no, not in the pairing sense) kind of jumped out of nowhere. It's fun to write though.**

**Sky: Indeed. Now, while I'll be the first to admit I'm rusty since I haven't done one of these things in years...tech sheet time, since it was requested.**

Class: _Sverige_

Type: Mobile Assault Ship

Manufacturer: Kockums

Operator: Sword, Kingdom of Scandinavia

Members: _Sverige, Gotland, Norge, _Sehested__

Length: 400 meters

Power plant: Nuclear-Fusion Reactor

Mobile Suit Capacity: 12

Armament: 4x Lohengrin Positron Blaster Cannon

2x Gottfried High Energy Beam Cannon

4x Ridder Single-barrel Beam Cannon

30x Igelstellung CIWS

4x Missile Tubes

Appearance: Oversized _Izumo_ class. The 'Ridder' beam cannons are mounted on top/on bottom of the expanded 'wing' pylons.

Description: Faced with the need of a substantial space force to give Sword real teeth, the Kingdom of Scandinavia turned to the Orb Union for a warship design. Orb had already begun production of their new Izumo-class vessels, modular warships that would eventually serve as the basis for the Earth Alliance's _Archangel_. These uniquely adaptable warships were perfect for Scandinavia, and four were immediately ordered to a heavily modified design. Equipped with experimental Fusion powerplants, the warships were expanded in size in order to provide more firepower. These four ships are currently spread throughout Scandinavian territory..._Sverige_ as the flagship of Sword, with _Gotland, Norge, _and _Sehested_ guarding the Valhalla colony.

Note: The _Izumo_ technically has four Lohengrin cannons...they are smaller than the _Archangel's_ and split into two per side. So this isn't 'really' making the _Sverige_ more powerful than the Hero Ship. More of a slightly less-powerful counterpart.

Unit Model: SMS-01 Draken

Type: General-Purpose Mobile Suit

Manufacturer: SAAB

Operator: Kingdom of Scandinavia, Sword

Height: 17.3 meters

Standard Weight: 50 Metric Tons

Powerplant: Ultracompact Energy Battery

Standard Armament: 2x Beam Saber, back mounted.

1x _Gevär _m/70 Beam Rifle

4x Ripper CIWS, chest mounted

1x Anti-Beam Shield

Optional Armament: Shield Buster Rifle, 'Vraget' Anti-Ship Sword, 'Grippen' Hyper-Impulse Cannon.

Appearance: GX-9900 DV Gundam X Divider, minus the shield that gives that machine its name.

Isabel Doris Colors: White, with a dark blue chest.

Alexandra Bernhard Colors: White, crimson red highlights.

Description: The first Mobile Suit to be designed by Scandinavia, the Draken is a machine based very heavily on the Gundam X. Designed to be a much more mult-purpose machine than the Gundam, it lacks the Satellite System and instead carries a basic loadout of two beam sabers and one beam rifle. Despite being a simplified machine however, the Draken is actually heavier and less agile than its progenitor. It is still a highly effective machine however, easily surpassing ZAFTs GINN and CGUE.

**DX: And there we go! Next chapter will be up when it's finished. Remember to review!**


	5. Phase 5: Reinforcements

**AN: Took a bit longer than normal, but here's the next chapter! I hope everyone enjoys it!**

**Sky: Even if it is a bit shorter than standard too. Disclaimer ahoy: We don't own Gundam, and Isabel Doris is the property of northernlion196 while Alexandra Bernhard is the property of Patriot-112.**

* * *

**January 25th, CE. 71**

**Heliopolis Debris**

* * *

Were one orbiting Heliopolis, they would be privy to a sight not many would ever see. The massive colony, its rotation normally a peaceful constant, began to move faster and faster. Cracks formed along its shell, the tough metal snapping and shattering as the rotation continued to move faster. Holes began to form along its hull, as escape pods jettisoned in massive rings around the colony. Until, with a final spin, the colony of Heliopolis snapped into pieces.

Inside this massive debris field, the Strike Gundam floated. The machine didn't move, even as rocks and pieces of buildings bounced off its armor. Kira Yamato couldn't move...his hands going pale as they squeezed the machine's controls. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Heliopolis...his home...had fallen to pieces. What decades of micrometer strikes and use hadn't done, a pair of battles had. It had been so fragile in the end...so fragile.

_Heliopolis...why...why did this happen?!_

Kira was paralyzed, barely breathing as the ruins of his home floated around him. He didn't know what to do...what he _could_ do.

_"Kid, you okay in there?"_ he didn't even hear the female voice coming over his radio.

_"Strike! Kira Yamato respond!" _or the other female voice.

The teenager didn't notice _anything_ but the ruins of his home, until the Draken gently floated up next to his machine. The G-Weapon-like machine placed a hand on the Strike, opening a secure line that no one would be able to overhear.

_"Kira, you okay in there?" _Alexandra asked.

The boy in question blinked, and forced his breathing under control, "Yes."

_"Are you sure?_" the Scandinavian asked, _"I can't imagine this is easy on you..."_

Kira smiled weakly, "It isn't...but thank you."

The Draken nodded its head, _"You're welcome. Now, you should probably let the Ensign know you're okay before she comes out here in a space suit."_

_"Kira Yamato!"_

"I see..." the teenager blinked, "Err...Strike here...I'm okay."

He could practically _hear_ the relief in Natarle's voice, _"Can you return?"_

After a quick look at his readouts, Kira nodded, "Yes."

_"Then head back."_

Breaking away from the Draken, the teenager sheathed the Strike's massive sword. For her part, Alexandra watched the machine move warily. She couldn't say she understood what Kira was going through. After all, Scandinavia never had something like _this_ happen. But she could easily imagine how hard it must be on the kid...losing his home like this. Who knew what was going through his head really.

She'd have to talk to him once this was over with. The crew of the _Archangel_ seemed nice enough, but not one of them was used to dealing with a Coordinator. Not to mention they were going to have enough on their plates, what with the destruction of Heliopolis. And the fact that Isabel and Luke seemed quite convinced that Lang had something up his sleeve.

That left _her_ to make sure the teen was okay and didn't snap under the pressure. She wasn't trained for this...

_Nothing for it though. I can't let Kira do this alone..._

"_Miss Bernhard_?"

Speak of the devil...

"Call me Alexandra," the Lieutenant replied, "what's up?"

In reply, the Strike pointed at a drifting...escape pod? The pod was clearly malfunctioning, as its engine let out random bursts that sent it crashing into debris. If something didn't stop it, the thing would probably crash into something bigger than itself. Considering the amount of civilians that had to be aboard it...

"Okay, I see what you mean," Alexandra muttered, "This is Bernhard, we've found a damaged escape pod."

There was a moment of silence, before Natarle's voice answered, _"Leave it. We're in a battle situation, and we can't afford to take on _more_ civilians right now."_

If nothing else, those words served to shock Kira out of his stupor.

_"Are you kidding me? We can't just leave this out here! It's damaged, what if it runs out of air before someone else finds it?"_

"I have to agree with Kira on this," Alexandra added, "the propulsion drive is clearly malfunctioning. Even if it doesn't crack itself open on debris, this pod won't reach the evac areas. It could take weeks to find it again."

What was left unsaid, was that the pod most certainly did _not_ have enough supplies to last that long.

_"Still..."_ Natarle began, before muffled voices cut her off, _"very well, bring it aboard. But hurry, we don't have much time."_

Alexandra nodded, "Will do. Kira, you're closer."

_"Alright...thank you."_

"No problem. I'm not any more comfortable with leaving them out here than you are."

As the Strike grabbed the lifepod and brought it towards the _Archangel_, Alexandra couldn't help but start scanning the area though. Not for the ZAFT ships, not in this case anyway. She was looking for the _Sverige_, which should logically be somewhere nearby. Something confirmed when she saw a brief flash of lights. Morse Code...something most wouldn't notice, but Scandinavia still used on occasion.

_We're nearby, await further orders..._

"Well then, back to the _Archangel_ for now," the Lieutenant muttered...as the Draken came in for a landing.

Until she got more orders from the _Sverige_, it was time to play mercenary again. She only wondered, how long that would be necessary. A career soldier like herself was hardly comfortable playing a soldier for hire. It went against everything she had learned in training.

But sometimes, being a soldier meant leaving your comfort zone. And at least this way, she could keep an eye on Kira Yamato...

* * *

**HScMS _Sverige_**

* * *

Shadowing both the _Archangel_ and the ZAFT ships, the _Sverige_ stayed carefully hidden behind larger chunks of debris. It wasn't hard...even at the size of the ship, since Heliopolis had split into plenty of large enough chunks to hide the warship. Now, hiding was one thing. Figuring out what to do when the ship was forced to expose itself...that was an entirely different situation. After all, there was a _lot_ of different outcomes that could come from exposing the ship, and by extension, the Gundam X.

Chief among them, having to fight ZAFT. There was very little chance that anything the crew said would convince Le Creuset _not_ to attack. Especially once it became apparent that both the ship and its strongest machine were powered by Nuclear Fusion. The PLANTs greatest fear, rightfully, was the Earth Alliance regaining nuclear strike capability. If the _Sverige_ showed itself in support of the _Archangel_, they would quickly become target number one, even more so than the Strike and its mothership. There _was_ no greater threat to the PLANTs, than nuclear power that was not hindered by N-Jammers.

And on top of ZAFT, there was the _Archangel_ herself. What would they do there? Sword would, technically , be well within their rights to take the warship. They were part of Orb's military as much as Scandinavia's and the EU's. And the _Archangel_ represented a very significant treaty violation. The problem was simple though...the _Sverige_ lacked the manpower, trained manpower at any rate, to make a 'prize crew'. The _Archangel_ _had_ to keep its current crew, small as it was, simply because they knew what they were doing. The question then became...

How to manage that?

"You don't really think they will just leave the Alliance, do you sir?" Commander Adani asked.

"No, not particularly," Lang agreed.

"Then what are _we_ to do?" the Equatorial citizen asked.

"That is the question, isn't it?" the Scandinavian agreed, "What to do with the _Archangel_. I have orders, from Lord Uzumi Nara Athha himself, to do _something_ about it. If possible, take it for Orb...as compensation for Heliopolis, and violating the Treaty of Inazagi."

Adani blinked, "Surprisingly forceful of him."

"I got the impression that he's rather annoyed with the Sahaku family. Can't say I blame him...if one of Scandinavia's Noble Families decided that working with the Earth Alliance on Valhalla was a good idea, I shudder to think what the Queen would do."

"Especially with Heliopolis destroyed...ZAFT _and_ the Alliance are going to be sweating."

Lang nodded, "Very much so. Though I doubt Orb or either of our homelands will actually _fight_, the politicians are going to have a field day with this."

"Which leaves us out here, with no idea of how to proceed."

"More or less."

The two men stopped talking then, as the _Archangel_ finished loading the Strike and Draken. It was only a matter of time until the ship made a break for it...they could hardly sit around, waiting for ZAFT to attack them. They would have to go somewhere...and somewhere nearby, if the reports from Luke and Isabel were any indication. That left, basically, nothing but Artemis. The Eurasians would probably be a bit...leery...but then, they may just look at this as a chance to one-up the Atlantic Federation.

Neither was particularly good.

"I wonder..." Adani spoke up.

"Hmm?" Lang asked, continuing to observe the _Archangel_.

"If Lord Athha gave you orders to take the ship, why didn't he do it while the project was still underway?"

The Scandinavian shrugged, "Politics my friend, simple politics. Apparently if we moved too soon, we would be overplaying our hands...it would become apparent that Orb _did_ in fact know of the project. And if it became apparent that Orb knew of the project and did _not_ stop it, we would lose any credibility we may have had with ZAFT. Not to mention angering the Alliance."

Adani nodded slowly, "But by waiting until ZAFT attacked and playing it like we were just here to cover Heliopolis..."

"Orb can make it appear that we only just found out, and moved to stop it before it got any further," Lang finished, "Devious really."

"Yes, it is," the Indian agreed.

Silence descended once more, while Lang waited on a report. He had sent a request to the nearest Sword base, hidden away in a ruined L4 Colony, for their intelligence operatives to dig into the Alliance's dirty laundry. He figured the only way to convince the _Archangel_ crew to turncoat would be providing them with evidence they couldn't refute. Anyone who paid even the slightest attention to the Alliance knew that it was fairly heavily infiltrated by Blue Cosmos. But national loyalty could blind one to a lot of things...Lang knew that well enough. He was just lucky that Sword was multinational, which let him see his own nations dirty laundry in a new light.

He hoped that by giving the _Archangel_ crew irrefutable evidence that their military was little more than a terrorist front...they might be willing to jump ship and join Sword. He wasn't sure if it would be that easy though. In point of fact, Lang would be leery if it _was_ that easy to convince someone to betray their homeland. Such a soldier would be more trouble than they were worth. Still though...it had to work. He didn't want to try taking the _Archangel_ by force.

He could only justify taking the ship, if the evidence was strong enough.

"Report has arrived sir," a crewman spoke up, carrying a datapad over to the Captain.

"Thank you Ensign," Lang nodded in thanks, before looking over the report.

A report that made even _his_ face pale. He had known things were bad...anyone who paid attention to the War knew that. He hadn't realized...

"Damn...this is worse than I thought..."

"Sir?" Adani asked, looking at the Captain.

"Look, and tell me that you aren't shocked."

The Indian raised an eyebrow, before taking the datapad. His hands began shaking as he read...anger quickly lighting up his dark-skinned face. Adani was a Coordinator...one could hardly blame him for his anger.

"How...this..." the man struggled to find words, "I knew the Alliance was rotten but..._this_..."

Lang nodded wearily, "I know exactly how you feel my friend. This is..."

The _Mandelbrot_ Incident. Copernicus. Junius Seven. All of these incidents were ones that lead to the start of the War with the PLANTs. All of them were ones that Alliance Command had pinned on the Coordinators as the root cause of, even the Bloody Valentine. But...these files, clearly told a different story. All of them were orders from one 'Director Azrael', to Federation Special Forces.

Copernicus...the Special Forces were ordered to plant a bomb in the UN shuttle. Another detachment would sabotage Chairman Clyne's own shuttle, so the Coordinator leadership would be spared. And, by extension, make it clear that they were the ones to blame. After all, if the Coordinator Chairman was 'conveniently' delayed...then, it look nothing more than like ZAFT had done the deed, and eliminated the UN to cause chaos on Earth.

The Bloody Valentine by contrast...that had been more difficult. Official reports said that the _Roosevelt,_ the carrier responsible for the attack, had accidently loaded the nuke and before anyone realized what had happened an overzealous pilot took advantage of the situation. The problem with that was apparent...there was never any 'apology for the accident'. The Alliance just brushed it under a table...the pilot vanishing, without a trace. No trial...just...gone.

But these files...told a different story. The _Roosevelt_ was clearly compromised, from top to bottom, by Blue Cosmos. The crew and pilots were every bit loyal to that organization. They had gone in _planning to nuke the PLANTs_. Under direct orders from this Azrael fellow...who was quickly becoming a running theme. Anything that seemed remotely off about the Alliance had this man's hand in it. He was playing them like a fiddle...and all indications were that he was high up in Blue Cosmos, if not outright in command of the Terrorist Organization.

"I can't believe the Alliance is so thoroughly compromised," Adani muttered.

"And yet, I doubt even this is enough," Lang mused.

"Sir?"

The redhead sighed, "Even if they believe these files are the real deal, convincing the likes of Mu La Flaga to abandon their homeland is pointless. They need to see, firsthand, what is going on. Perhaps...perhaps we are better off just playing mercenary for now."

"You are probably right," Adani nodded.

"Ensure everyone is in a Sword Uniform...it is nearly time to reveal ourselves..."

* * *

_**Archangel**_

* * *

"There's that sensor ghost again..." Jackie Tonomura muttered.

"Any luck?" Mu La Flaga asked, looking down over the lower-ranked man's shoulder.

"None yet sir," Tonomura answered, "I can't get a firm lock. Whatever it is, is _big_...but I can't say more than that."

"Keep looking," Murrue spoke up, "Lieutenant? Any ideas?"

Mu shook his head, "Not a one. It's clearly not a _Nazca_ or _Laurasia_. If it was, we'd be free-floating atoms right about now. ZAFT wouldn't taunt us, not with Le Creuset in command. They'd just blow us all away."

"Then _who_ could it be..." the Captain muttered, looking out at the ruined colony.

On the other side of the bridge, Luke, Isabel and Alexandra stood apart from the Alliance crew. All of them could easily guess what the sensor ghost had to be. The _Sverige_...and if Captain Lang was willing to expose his ship at all, he had to have come to a decision. A decision on what to do with the _Archangel_...continue playing merc, or go all out. Unfortunately, they had no real way of knowing which he had decided on. Not without being aboard the Sword mothership themselves.

So they were just as much in the dark as the _Archangel_, at least in that regard.

"I wonder if we're going to go all out," Luke muttered.

"I would presume so," Isabel shrugged, "we've got too much riding on this ship. They know about the Draken after all."

"And we don't want _that_ getting to the wrong people," Alexandra finished.

"Exactly."

"What are you three talking about?" Natarle asked, looking suspiciously at the Scandinavians.

_Oops..._Luke thought.

They had managed to forget that the _Archangel's_ impromptu XO had remarkably good hearing. At least they hadn't said anything _too_ incriminating. Still though, the crew was already suspicious enough about them. From Alexandra's machine, to Luke's admitting that they weren't Alliance or Orb soldiers. The secret was pretty well out already, but they still didn't want to give too much away.

Then again...

"That's probably my mothership," Alexandra spoke up...if they wanted the _Archangel_ crew to trust them, they had to give something to them.

Mu's eyebrow went up, "I wondered where your Draken came from. Fancy letting them know you're here?"

The dirty blonde nodded, and walked up to grab a headset, "This is Bernhard, Code Lima-Tango-Foxtrot."

Those words wouldn't have meant anything to ZAFT, were they listening. But to the _Sverige_, it was a code...a code that told them to expose themselves. The large blue warship coasted out of its hiding place, moving towards the _Archangel_. The crew of which, gave it a shocked look. After all, the ship was a scarce twenty meters shorter than the _Archangel_...itself the largest warship in Alliance service, surpassing the _Agamemnon_ by one hundred and twenty meters. Only one person on the bridge, other than the Scandinavians, actually recognized the design though.

"That looks...like a giant, malformed _Izumo_," Mu La Flaga said, watching the _Sverige_ with a pilot's eye, "Huh."

Isabel's eye went up, "You know about the _Izumo_?"

"I was wondering that myself," Murrue mused, "Isn't that the ship Orb based the _Archangel_ on?"

"Yes, and yes," Mu answered, an amused smile on his face, "I'm the last Zero pilot. I _have_ to be briefed on any and all ship designs, so I know their weaknesses. My Zero is the vanguard in any battle, at least until we get some Mobile Suits going. I have to say though, while the _Izumo_ is a nasty piece of work, this baby is another level. Nearly as big as the _Archangel_ and at least as heavily armed. Niiiiccee."

"I'll pass on your appreciation to the designer," Alexandra grinned, "For now though..."

_"Lieutenant Bernhard, we received your message loud and clear_," a female voice said over the radio, _"Patching Captain Lang through now."_

The main viewscreen on the bridge changed from a view of the Heliopolis rubble, to one of a warship bridge. One that looked remarkably like the _Archangel's_ at that...albeit a bit opener, probably to make for a more efficient spreading of crewman. Sitting at the center of said bridge, in a chair identical to Murrue's, was a redhaired man in a blue uniform similar in cut to Alexandra's...albeit with higher ranked insignia on it.

Clearly the Captain then...something confirmed as he nodded directly at Murrue Ramius.

_"It is a pleasure to meet you, though I do admit to wishing it were under better circumstances,"_ the man spoke, _"I am Captain Eric Lang, of the Sword battlecruiser _Sverige_. I believe you have already met my pilots."_

"Yes, we have," Murrue nodded, "Mi...Lieutenant...Bernhard has been a great aid."

_"I am happy to hear that,"_ Lang nodded himself, _"Perhaps we may be even more of an aid, in fact."_

The Alliance Lieutenant-turned-Captain blinked, "What? I had assumed..."

_"That we would leave now that our mission to protect Heliopolis was a failure? Perhaps you would be correct in most cases...however, our employer has made it clear we are to protect any civilians in the colony. And if I am not mistaken, you have taken an escape pod aboard."_

Murrue's eyebrow went up, as she looked over her shoulder. Alexandra shrugged slightly, making it clear she had reported into her commander at some point. The Captain couldn't blame her for that...if her mission truly was to defend Heliopolis and its people, then she had just been doing her duty. Murrue could respect that, regardless of her personal feelings on mercenaries.

And regardless of the fact she was off the mark in considering the _very_ professional soldiers of Sword were mercenaries.

"Would you not take the colonists yourself?" the brunette asked.

_"Normally, you would be correct. However, our vessel does not have the spare room. The most we can do is transfer supplies and support the _Archangel_."_

Even that was far more than the Alliance crew could have expected. They all...all of them expected to be alone until Artemis, at the very least. Perhaps even until the moon. To hear that they would have support from a warship that seemed every bit as capable as their own...and carrying the Draken. Perhaps even more than _one_ Draken...

Well, they could overlook the unknown origins of this group for now. So long as they supported them, at any rate.

"I thank you for the support," Murrue said.

_"Like I said, just following orders,"_ Lang shrugged, _"Now, I will have to ask Lieutenant Oskarson and Sergeant Doris be returned to the _Sverige_. Their machines are still aboard, and I want them back. Lieutenant Bernhard, however, can stay aboard the _Archangel_. I understand your only Mobile Suit is piloted by a civilian teenager, correct?"_

Murrue winced, even as Natarle sent a small glare her way.

"Yes, that would be correct," the Lieutenant replied, "however, I was hoping to not force him into flying any longer."

_"I am afraid that will be needed. We can do a lot with our three Mobile Suits, but not cover two warships from four G-Weapons and whatever remaining conventional units ZAFT possesses. The Strike will be needed...I would like Lieutenant Bernhard to stay, to try and train Kira Yamato."_

Alexandra blinked at that, _Train Kira? I don't even want him flying...he shouldn't have to..._

She wasn't going to disobey a direct order though. And this was clearly an order. What Lang was thinking though...the dirty blonde wasn't quite sure.

"Very well, we can prep a shuttle," Murrue's voice broke into the Scandinavians thoughts.

_"I would suggest you hurry. ZAFT will not wait forever to attack. _Sverige_ out."_

And that statement was very true. Rau Le Creuset was a patient man...but he would not wait forever before _forcing_ the _Archangel_ and her impromptu escorts out...

* * *

**DX: There we go! Remember to review if you like it!**

**Sky: It let's us know if we're doing well, after all.**

**DX: Yep! :D**

**Next chapter will be up whenever we get done typing it ;)**


	6. Phase 6: Run to Artemis

**AN: Sorry for the delay! I hope everyone can still enjoy the chapter! :D**

* * *

**January 25th, CE. 71**

**AFS _Archangel_**

* * *

Kira Yamato leaned against a bed post, as his friends talked amongst themselves. He was still numb from all that had happened...Heliopolis falling apart. Fighting Athrun, something he would have never thought he would do. Piloting the Strike in the first place...when he hated the idea of fighting. It was safe to say he was barely holding himself together...the adrenaline only slowly leaving his body. He wasn't even really paying much attention to his friends, at that. Sure, he _heard_ them talking...asking what was going to happen next.

All that Kira knew in that regard, was that he might be asked to pilot the Strike again. Something he had absolutely no desire to do. He hated the very idea of getting back into that machine. He wasn't a soldier, and he didn't want to _become_ one. It went against all his instincts.

_I don't want to fight...Athrun..._

The teen wouldn't get that lucky though. Even with the addition of Isabel's Draken, Luke's Gundam X and the _Sverige_, the _Archangel_ and friends were still outnumbered. Four G-Weapons and at least a handful of GINNs against one G-Weapon, one Gundam, and two Drakens. It was true that the X was likely as not more powerful than _all_ the Heliopolis machines put together...but it was still only one machine. Even were Luke as good as Le Creuset, he couldn't possibly take on all four machines at once.

Because of that, Alexandra walked up to the group of teenagers.

"Hey, Kira," the dirty blonde spoke up, "you busy?"

"No..." despite saying that, Kira's violet eyes narrowed slightly, "why?"

"Figured we could talk," the Scandinavian shrugged, "we haven't in awhile."

Kira nodded slowly, "I can do that."

Alexandra smiled slightly, "Good. Come with me then."

The teen sent a look back at his friends, before leaving with the pilot. He was somewhat leery of doing so...he considered Alexandra something of a friend, to be fair. She certainly showed more signs of caring about _his_ opinion on things than any other soldiers aboard this ship. But that didn't mean he wasn't worried what she was going to say.

"Miss..."

"Alexandra, Kira. Alexandra," the blonde smiled.

"Right...Alexandra," the teen replied a bit slowly, "why are you wanting to talk to me? This is about the Strike, isn't it?"

"I wish I could say it wasn't," Alexandra sighed, as they entered the hangar, "but it is. We need you to fly it still Kira, even if I don't like asking you that."

Kira felt his temper flare, "I don't _want_ to fly it! I'm not a soldier! Sure, I flew it twice. But that was because I had..."

"No choice?" the Scandinavian asked, "I told you before Kira...you always have a choice. You may not _like_ the choice, but it's always there. No one is forcing you to do anything...if they did, I'd stick up for you."

"You..."

Alexandra shrugged, "I'm a born soldier. Very, _very_, few things are more important to me than serving my...cause."

If Kira noticed her hesitation there, he didn't show it. Which was a good thing...Alexandra had almost said her 'country'. And that would be a bad slip...Sword wasn't supposed to be tied to any one nation. If she made it clear she was dedicated to Scandinavia, like she truly was, it could lead to some _awkward_ questions.

"But I do understand not everyone is cut out to be a soldier," the dirty blonde continued, "or a pilot. Just because you have the skill, doesn't mean you should have to use it. I imagine most would tell you the opposite...but I won't."

Kira blinked, _Is she...is Miss Alexandra telling me that I _don't_ have to fight? That it really is my choice? Even though I have the ability to do it?_

The more he thought about it, the more it made sense to him. And to Kira Yamato...that was something he was profoundly grateful for. He would certainly _hate_ if someone told him he had to fly, just because he was a Coordinator and could do it. For Alexandra to tell him that he didn't have to do this if he didn't want to, regardless of his own skill...

"Thank you," Kira said, "thank you."

Alexandra smiled slightly, "No problem. Now, I'll be the first to say it would be nice having you watching my back out there though. You're a natural, no pun intended."

"I thought you were the Natural," Kira replied, a small smile on his own face.

"That's why I said no pun intended," the older woman smirked, "seriously though. Can't say I've ever seen someone take to piloting as well as you do Kira. Even for a Coordinator, you're quick on the uptake. With some training, you'd probably surpass me in short order."

The teenager felt his face heat up and _knew_ he was blushing, "I'm not that good..."

"You really are though. Not many people could take on a GINN in their first engagements and win," Alexandra disagreed, "Still though, if you don't want to fly I'm not going to ask you to. I can handle myself, though it won't be easy."

Turning away from Kira, Alexandra gave him a final smile before walking towards her Draken. She did her part...if he didn't want to fly, she wasn't going to be the one to force him.

For his part, the teen watched his...friend...walk away. He had no idea that the _Sverige_ was outside, supporting the _Archangel_. For all he knew, Alexandra would be fighting alone. Maybe with Lieutenant La Flaga helping her. Alone...against all four G-Weapons, and whatever else ZAFT could throw at them. He hated the idea of fighting...he truly did. But at the same time...

Kira Yamato hated the idea of his friends being hurt even more. Regardless of if it was his friends on the _Archangel_, or his older friend who would be fighting in space. He didn't want to see _any_ of them hurt. He didn't know if he could take it...if Tolle, Mir, Alexandra...if any of them were hurt just because he refused to fight. He knew he had a choice...but then...

_Just like before...I never really had a choice, did I?_

Kira certainly appreciated what Alexandra had told him. But the fact was, he didn't have a choice here. He couldn't live with himself if anyone else was hurt, because he refused to fly. How could he?

"Mi...Alexandra!"

The woman in question turned around, a curious look on her face, "Eh?"

"Please...train me how to fly," a fire was in Kira's eyes now.

"You...want me to train you?" Alexandra blinked, "I thought..."

"I don't _want_ to fight," Kira said softly, "but I can't live with myself if my friends got hurt because I didn't. If it means flying the Strike to keep them safe...I'll do it!"

_This kid_...the Scandinavian thought, before smiling slightly, "Okay...okay, I can do that. Come up to the Draken. I'll run a simulation, see what you can do."

Kira blinked, "You're letting me inside your machine?"

"Why not? You're still a civilian...I'm not hurting anything by letting you run a few simulations," the Scandinavian shrugged, "Just don't touch anything I don't say you can."

"Got it!"

And thus, regardless of if she had wanted to or not, Alexandra became Kira's unofficial mentor.

* * *

**ZNS** **_Vesalius_**

* * *

Far away from the _Archangel_, the ZAFT task force continued to root through the ruins of the colony, looking for their target. After Amy had returned with no evidence of the _Archangel_, the searching had moved less from Heliopolis, and more to where the Alliance warship may go afterwards. There were two main options, in the nearby area. The Artemis Base, which while technically Eurasian, was still part of the Earth Alliance. The other option was one of the other neutral colonies nearby...Scandinavia's Valhalla, Orb's Elysium, and the Equatorial Union's Shangri-La. Any of them could potentially take in the _Archangel, _though it would quickly turn this into an even _larger_ diplomatic mess.

That really just left Artemis, or a straight shot to the moon as options. Conventional wisdom would leave the latter as the better option. For all that they were 'allied' the Atlantic and Eurasian Federations were still rivals. It would be quite easy to believe that Eurasia had no idea the _Archangel_ existed. And they may try taking advantage of the ship, if they even let it into Artemis in the first place. So, logically, it made more sense for the Legged Ship to go to the Moon, where _Atlantic_ Federation HQ was situated.

But, when was Rau Le Creuset ever one for conventional wisdom?

"I am telling you Ades, they _will_ go to Artemis. I'm sure of it."

Captain Fredrick Ades frowned, "Are you certain sir? Wouldn't it make more sense to go for the moon?"

"Perhaps in normal circumstances," Rau agreed, "however, I believe you would agree these are not normal circumstances. There is no way that vessel has been fully supplied. As such, it would not make it all the way to the moon. The only friendly resupply nearby..."

"Is the Artemis Base," Ades finished.

"Exactly. Despite the animosity between the Federations, I firmly believe the Legged Ship will go to Artemis."

"Perhaps...but shouldn't we at least have the _Gamow_ or _Freund_ cover the Moon Route?"

"No, I am quite certain that would be a waste of resources," Rau said, shaking his head.

_And I am eager to test the capabilities of the Alliance's Mobile Suits against the machines that our enemy retains...especially the one that fought my CGUE with Mu. That machine is not in any of the computers...and I am curious where it originated..._

That machine had captured Rau's interest from the moment he first fought it. The pilot was good, clearly not on his or Mu's level, but no rookie either. It was the machine that had made up the gap and allowed it to hang with his CGUE...and it was for that reason that Rau was so interested in it.

While it was true that Aegis and Duel were equally as superior to his personal machine, they were in different ways. This mystery Mobile Suit, despite not having Phase-Shift Armor- he had done damage, however slight, with his shield gatling -was every bit a match for the G-Weapons. Theoretically, of course, but that was why Le Creuset wasn't taking the practical route and covering both avenues of escape for the Legged Ship. He wanted to see how that machine stacked up against a G-Weapon in actual combat...and see what the Strike could do.

"_Vesalius_ will head forward, and take up position in front of Artemis," the masked Commander continued, "_Gamow_ will shadow the Legged Ship, staying out of sight until battle is joined. _Freund_ will support Zelman."

Ades nodded, though he was clearly skeptical, "Very well Command..."

"Heat source detected!" a voice rang out, "Tracking...it's projected course takes it around the Earth, destination...Atlantic Federation Lunar HQ!"

"Sir..." the Captain frowned.

Rau just smiled, as he floated up to the Captain's chair, "No, this just confirms things for me. That is most likely a decoy...the Legged Ship wouldn't make such an obvious move without knowing the location of our own vessels. Continue on course to Artemis!"

"Yes sir. Engines ahead full! Destination, Artemis!"

Le Creuset smiled slightly as his ship began moving again. He was no fool, and should have felt insulted that the Alliance thought he would be so easily fooled. But he wasn't.

No, the man was simply eager to fight a battle with the new warship and its machines. Not even the thought of fighting Mu La Flaga again excited him as much. After all...what better way to take the fight to the Earth Alliance than destroying their new warship and its remaining Mobile Suits...with their own stolen machines. There was a dark irony there, and it amused the Masked Man to no ends. Oh yes...he was going to enjoy this.

_You had better not disappoint me Legged Ship...Mu La Flaga. I am expecting a fierce battle...a battle to end all others. Anything else would be a disappointment!"_

* * *

**_Archangel_**

* * *

The subject of the ZAFT discussion was slowly coasting alongside the _Sverige_ through the Heliopolis debris. The ruins of the Orb Colony had spread out, the force of its collapse so great, almost all the way to the Artemis base. Using this debris for cover, the two warships were able to do a 'silent run'. All power sources beyond keeping weapons charged and small maneuvering thrusters had been deactivated, to give them a better chance of staying hidden. Even with that precaution though, neither Mu La Flaga nor Eric Lang had much hope of staying hidden.

The former because he knew Rau Le Creuset...and knew the man probably caught on to their little plan. The latter because he didn't believe in luck. And it would take a _lot_ of luck to evade ZAFT, when the Coordinators were so determined to sink the white warship. The two men would probably be amused to know they were very correct...

If they weren't cursing Le Creuset, of course.

"Damn it," Mu muttered, "I knew it wouldn't work."

"The heat source in front of us is moving to a screening position in front of Artemis," Tonomura reported.

"Cutting us off at the pass," the Hawk mused, "clever."

"What about the _Laurasia's_?" Murrue asked.

"Scanning...no sign of them ma'am."

The Lieutenant bit her lip. The first heat source had to be the _Nazca_. But neither of the _Laurasia's_ were in sight. That could only mean two things. They were hiding in the debris much as the _Archangel _and _Sverige_ were...or that they took the bait and Le Creuset was covering both bases. Turning to their erstwhile Mask-Expert, Murrue raised an eyebrow.

Mu just sighed.

"I've fought the man Captain, but never in a ship-to-ship fight," the blonde man shrugged, "I can't say if he would hold the others back or not. I'd bet not though...if he's confident enough to block Artemis _himself_ then..."

"It is likely the other warships are trailing us," the brunette finished, "Open a line with the _Sverige_."

Captain Lang's face appeared on the viewscreen once again, a calculating look on it.

_"I see you have come to the same conclusion, Captain Ramius,"_ the Scandinavian said.

Murrue nodded, "Yes. We believe that ZAFT is moving to cut off our approach to Artemis."

_"And we have no other option, so we have to go there,"_ Lang continued, _"It may be prudent to launch our Mobile Suits. Between our vessels, we should be capable of punching through the _Vesalius_...provided we are not shot down by the G-Weapons."_

"We'll need a plan," Mu spoke up.

"Hmm..." Murrue looked down into the CIC, "Ideas?"

Natarle shook her head, "None. I was...never trained for this."

"None of us were," the Hawk added, "Though...I wonder..."

The Captain's brow went up, "Do _you_ have an idea Lieutenant?"

"I just might," he replied with a smile, "If we fire our engines or weapons, ZAFT will know right away. I can guarantee that much, from my experience fighting them. But...we may just be able to use that to our advantage."

_"How so Lieutenant?"_ Lang asked.

The smile on Mu's face turned downright devious, "By covering the launch of my Zero. It's been repaired, and if we use the Positron Cannons to cover my launch...I can use the debris to sneak up on the _Nazca_. Hit it where it hurts, while the Strike and Draken keep the Mobile Suits busy."

Lang rubbed his chin in thought, _"That might just work. Though I believe we might have an even greater distraction for ZAFT..."_

The man trailed off at that, clearly not willing to elaborate. It did make one wonder though...what could the _Sverige_ have that was _more_ distracting than a barrage of anti-matter coming at your warship?

_I wonder if I should be worried_, Mu mused, before turning to his own 'Captain'.

"Well, think we can do that Captain?"

Murrue nodded slowly, "That may just be crazy enough to work. We'll do it."

Mu nodded, saluted, and left the bridge. He had to get down to the hangar...as Natarle began ringing out the Battlestations alert. He had to be in the hangar, ready to launch. And see if he could find the kid...Mu knew Alex was a hot pilot, but he wanted every bit of extra support that he could get...

_-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-_

As the alarms began blaring, Kira stuck his head out of the cockpit of the Draken. The simulations Alexandra had him running took up a fair bit of his time, even though he didn't have much difficulty with them. In fact, once Kira had actually adapted to the controls his learning curve was nothing short of terrifying. The sims that Alexandra had him running were designed with trained soldiers in mind. Pilots who already had at least some manner of experience were the ones who were supposed to be doing them.

For Kira, who had never touched a Mobile Suit in his life until this day...it was frightening for the trained soldier who was teaching him. Extremely, extremely, terrifying in fact.

_His growth rate is incredible,_ Alexandra mused, as she looked up at the alarms herself, _Terrifying really. Give him enough training and I won't ever want to fight against him. Damn Kira._

"Why are the alarms sounding?" the terrifying teen in question asked.

"No idea," the dirty blonde shrugged, "If I had to guess, ZAFT found us."

Kira winced, "Already? I..."

"I know. Come on, let's go get into flight suits. We want to be ready when they arrive."

"Okay," the teen nodded.

The two pilots, one trained and one tossed into a cockpit, floated up to the changing room. When they reached it, Mu La Flaga floated out, already in his own custom purple suit. He nodded at the pair, before focusing on Kira in particular. The teen shifted slightly, a bit uncomfortable under that blue gaze. At least until the Hawk's face turned into a kind smile.

"I take it you're helping too kid?" he asked.

"Yes," Kira nodded, "I am. I can't just sit back while my friends are in danger."

Mu nodded himself, and clapped Kira on the shoulder, "It's always good to have something to protect. I'm glad you're helping too kid. We can use any help we can get right now. In fact, your friends are on the bridge right now."

"Wait...what?"

"Yeah, I thought they were in the refugee section," Alexandra added, cocking her head to the side.

The Hawk shrugged, "They were, but they volunteered to help. We're so undermanned that we can't say no to the help either."

_Sai, Mir, Tolle, Kuzzey...all of them are helping, even though they aren't Coordinators?_ Kira thought, shocked at his friends actions.

"Well, I won't turn down the help either," Alexandra shrugged, "as long as they know what they're getting into. Come on Kira, let's get this over with."

The teen nodded, and followed his older counterpart into the changing room. Looking around, Kira found a locker that had a blue flightsuit hanging out of it. Shrugging slightly, he grabbed said suit and began to pull it on. Thankfully, it was required in a Colony that everyone past a certain age knew how to put on a space suit properly. So it wasn't very hard to put the suit on.

If he hadn't turned beat red at the fact that Alexandra shrugged off her uniform jacket to fit into the suit better...it may have just been the jacket and not the undershirt, but it still surprised him. Averting his eyes, Kira focused on getting his own suit on.

"You ready kid?" the Scandinavian asked, her own blue flight suit almost identical to Kira's in everything but its design.

"As I'll ever be," the teen muttered, grabbing his helmet.

Alexandra patted him on the shoulder, "Don't worry Kira. We can handle this...we might have a little surprise anyway."

"A surprise?"

"You'll see."

Shaking his head slightly, Kira followed the other pilot. He had to get out into space...before ZAFT could attack.

* * *

**Heliopolis Debris**

* * *

As Mu La Flaga's Mobius Zero launched under the cover of the _Archangel's_ positron blast, five mobile suits came from the ZAFT warships. Aegis and a GINN came from the _Vesalius_, while Duel, Buster and Blitz came from the _Gamow_. Another pair of GINNs rounded out the detachment, this time from the _Freund_. All of these machines were determined to stop the Alliance ship...but all of them came up short, when sensors registered another ship next to the _Archangel_.

"What the hell," Yzak Joule, pilot of the Duel, complained, "did they build another ship?"

"Evidently," Dearka Elsman, Buster's pilot, replied.

Nicol Amalfi, in the Blitz, shook his head slightly, "It's big too. We might not have enough firepower to sink both."

"Yeah right," Yzak snorted, "don't be a coward!"

And with that, the Duel flared its thrusters and charged right at the second ship. Dearka went for the Legged Ship, while Nicol just sighed and pushed the Blitz wherever it might be needed. If that made him a coward...well, at least he would be a _living_ coward.

On the other end of the battlefield, Athrun and his partner flew towards the _Archangel_. Neither of their targets had launched yet however.

_Kira...are you still flying the Strike?_

"Hey, Athrun," Amy Takeo spoke up, "bets on if they'll send out the Strike?"

The pilot flinched, "Most likely, it is the only G-Weapon left. They can't afford to leave it behind, even with the second ship."

"Point. Well, I'll leave it to you. Doubt anything I have can hurt it anyway."

There was a good point there. Amy's only weapons were the standard GINN rifle and sword. Neither would be the slightest use against a machine with Phase Shift Armor. Nor would they be much good against the Legged Ship either, on that note. Athrun would have to handle the Strike by default really...only he could hurt it. At least the unknown machine didn't have the same advantage.

If Le Creuset could damage it, so could Amy. She'd just have to watch out for that beam saber.

"Got it," for his part, Athrun was just happy that he would have a chance to convince Kira to join him.

And thus, both machine's continued on their flight path towards the second ship. A ship that was even now opening its massive central hangar...

* * *

On said ship, Luke flipped switches in the Gundam X's cockpit, readying his machine for launch. The unique G-Controller was sitting in his free hand, acting as the 'key' to the Gundam's 'ignition'. All that remained to be done was finish readying it for launch. Namely, checking the weapons and the reactor. Really though, he _could_ have already launched. And normally, he would have...the X was the most powerful Mobile Suit in the Cosmic Era...leaving it in reserve was a bad idea.

But Lang was a devious man. By delaying the launch, he would make the reveal of the X having a nuclear reactor all the more impactful. Let ZAFT be lured into a false sense of security...and then spring it on them.

"Kinda feels like kicking a puppy though..." the Scandinavian muttered.

_"What feels like kicking a puppy?"_ Isabel asked, her own Draken being fitted with a _Vraget_ anti-ship sword.

"Breaking out the GX's reactor like this," Luke shrugged, "ZAFT isn't going to react well."

Isabel frowned, _"That was going to be true regardless though. No matter when we revealed the GX."_

"I know...still. I almost feel sorry for them...might be giving at least a couple Coordinators heart attacks before this battle is out."

_"At least it isn't the Alliance using a nuclear Mobile Suit."_

Luke sighed, "And ZAFT has no idea we _aren't_ Alliance. Helping the _Archangel_ out doesn't help in that regard."

Isabel couldn't deny that point. Especially since Lang wasn't going to be contacting Le Creuset, to explain what was going on. So far as ZAFT knew, they were Earth Alliance. And _that_ was going to blow a lot of gaskets.

"_Enough chatter you two,"_ Lang broke in, in full combat-mode, _"Lieutenant Oskarson, you are cleared to launch."_

_Well, here goes nothing..._

Slamming the G-Controller home, Luke activated the Gundam X. The machine's eyes flashed bright green, as its reactor came online. There was _no way_ that ZAFT and the _Archangel_ didn't detect that one...or the activation of the _Sverige's_ own reactor soon after.

"Luke Oskarson," the pilot said, "Gundam X, heading out!"

* * *

Pandemonium...that would be the only way to describe the bridge of the ZNS _Vesalius_. Alarms that had been unused since the Bloody Valentine were ringing...and the crew was in full panic-mode.

"Nuclear signature!" the sensor operator called out, "We have two distinct nuclear signatures aboard the second ship!"

"I need details!" Ades barked out, attempting to regain control of his bridge, "Nukes? Or reactors?"

Rau could give his Captain credit...the man took charge, despite the impossibility of the situation. It was common knowledge that the N-Jammers rendered nuclear reactions impossible. And even ZAFT had yet to develop an N-Jammer Canceller. If the organization that originated the devices couldn't counter it, then it stood to reason the same was true of the Earth Forces. If they had developed a way past the N-Jammers, they would have wasted no time in nuking the PLANTs.

This strange ship though...they may not be Alliance after all. It would explain the total lack of any information in the G-Weapon's computers on the machine he had dueled. And on top of that, it would explain why the Earth Forces didn't use their nukes. That still left the question of how...

_Ahh...Fusion..._Rau mused, a small smile tugging at his lips, _I had wondered if any nation would be able to discover the secret to cracking that long held mystery. I do wonder just who our mysterious friends are..._

"Reactors sir," the sensor operator broke into the masked man's thoughts.

Ades let out a small sigh, "Thank you. Orders, sir?"

The Commander looked up, "Ignore the Legged Ship for the moment. I do believe that the nuclear ship is our priority target now, don't you agree?"

"Yes...anyone who can get past the N-Jammers is..."

"Dangerous, yes."

As his Captain turned away, Rau let his small smile return. He _had_ to figure out who these mysterious people were...because the ability to get past the N-Jammers could be _quite_ useful for him...

* * *

"Nuclear..." Athrun Zala's eyes widened, as the message from the _Vesalius_ came in.

Even his worry over Kira was forgotten, as the Aegis changed directions and flared its thrusters. The crimson Gundam charged towards another Mobile Suit, that had just launched from the second warship. The machine clearly resembled the one that had fought at Heliopolis...but it was different all the same. Slightly bulkier, with a more complex V-Fin, a green torso...and a massive cannon slung over its shoulder. The beam rifle in its hands came up, and blasted a pink beam at the Aegis.

Athrun brought his shield up, the pink beam splattering against it. His own rifle returned fire, only for the nuclear Mobile Suit to hold its rifle up in front of it instead of its shield. The ZAFT pilot narrowed his eyes...wondering why his enemy was sacrificing its ranged weapon.

Only for the rifle to _expand_, as the white frame turned into a shield and caught Athrun's beam.

_It's a shield!_

Dodging another bolt from the G-Weapon, Athrun cursed as a green beam nearly took the Aegis' head off. The Strike had arrived, and it was going straight for him.

"Athrun!" Kira's voice came over the radio...fuzzy from the N-Jammers, but still very much clear.

"Kira!"

Amy's GINN flashed past Athrun's Aegis, heading for the simpler G-Weapon that was clearly at least of the same overall model as the nuclear machine, _"Keep the Strike busy Athrun! I've got the other one!"_

The GINN's rifle came up, and 76mm bullets lanced out towards the white and red machine. Inside it's cockpit, Alexandra scowled slightly.

_Should have guessed the Captain would do something like that...now we're going to be Target Number One for ZAFT..._

Dodging around the rifle fire, Alexandra returned fire with her own beam rifle. The unique to GX-descended machines pink bolts missed completely.

"Oh, he's good..."

The GINN flared its thrusters, ducking underneath another beam before returning fire. Alexandra cursed lightly, as a piece of her Draken's shoulder went flying into space. Her return fire took a chunk out of the GINN's fin, but that was it. The two machines started to circle one another, occasionally firing off a shell or a beam. Even that was more than the Strike and Aegis...where Kira and Athrun were staring each other down.

The Aegis had its unique arm-mounted yellow saber active, while Kira held a standard Alliance pink one. The pilots had clashed only two times, both teenagers more concerned with why their friend was in a Mobile Suit, than with shooting the other down.

"Kira...what are you doing in that thing?!" Athrun shouted, bringing his blade down on the Strike's shield.

"I could ask you the same thing!" Kira shouted back, "I thought you hated the whole idea of war! So why did you join ZAFT?!"

As the Strike pushed away from the Aegis, Athrun gripped his controls tightly.

"You're a Coordinator, just like us Kira! Why are you fighting with the Earth Forces!"

Wincing slightly, the Strike's pilot looked back at the _Archangel_...even now firing against the Buster, as the captured machine flitted between it and the _Sverige_.

"I'm not with the Earth Forces," the teen replied, noting his friend's shocked look, "but good friends of mine are on that ship! I'm only fighting to protect them!"

_I'm your friend too Kira!_ Athrun thought, as he charged at the Strike once more, _And I can't let you stay with the Earth Forces!_

* * *

"Well," Luke grunted, as the X dodged a green beam, "I do believe I stirred up the hornets nest."

"Yes, yes you did," Isabel dryly commented, as she ducked under a swing from one of the pair of GINNs that had supported the G-Weapons.

"I blame the Captain."

"No argument here."

While the Aegis had been forced off its attack run, that did not by any means leave the GX and Isabel's Draken without enemies. While Buster and a GINN seemed satisfied with bombarding the _Archangel_ and _Sverige _from a distance, the same couldn't be said for the Duel, Blitz and a second GINN. The two G-Weapons were attacking the Gundam with everything they had, while the GINN kept Isabel busy.

And as he ducked under a swing from the Blitz, Luke had to admit they were doing their job well.

_I have a better machine, but numbers are their own strength..._

"Hold still Natural!" Yzak was rather more frustrated than his Scandinavian counterpart.

"How do you know I'm a Natural?" Luke asked, even if talking with an enemy wasn't _technically_ good.

"No Coordinator would fight against ZAFT!"

The Scandinavian shrugged, "Possibly. But then, I _am_ a Natural."

After he had realized his opponent was a typical 'I'm better than a Natural' type, Luke had been using that to keep him off balance. It was working marvelously...while Yzak probably had more raw skill than Nicol, the latter was actually handling the battle noticeably better. If only because he wasn't letting his temper rule his actions.

"Yzak, don't let him get to you!" the green-haired Coordinator shouted.

"Shut up!" the silver-haired teen ground out, as he grinned, "Ha! Got him!"

And indeed, a green beam had gotten past Luke's shield(s) and hit the GX in the shoulder. Yzak fully expected that bolt to blow his annoying enemy's arm off. However, when the light faded...

"What the hell! That isn't Phase Shift?!"

The GX had a scorch mark, but its shoulder was very much intact. Lunar Titanium was _not_ immune to beam fire. But it would take more than a single hit from a standard beam rifle to get through. Yzak barely dodged a return beam, as the GX used its powerful thrusters to get some distance.

_La Flaga should be hitting the Nazca any second_, Luke thought, _I can't play around here...time to see if the Grippen works..._

Luke holstered his rifle, and reached the Gundam's hand up behind its shoulder. The Mobile Suit's hand grabbed the barrel of its newest weapon...a hyper-impulse cannon, based on the Agni. It was noticeably smaller...almost identical in size to the Satellite Cannon. But unlike that scarily powerful creation, this weapon was weaker than the Launcher Striker.

Not that it would matter...even a weak hyper-impulse cannon was nothing to sneeze at.

"Take this!" the Scandinavian shouted, as a bolt of red-white energy shot from the GX.

"Damn it!" Yzak screamed, as the Duel's shield, and left arm, were blown apart.

Nicol grabbed onto the Duel, and started to drag it back towards the Gamow. He knew better than to take on a _nuclear_ powered machine alone. And in any case, they would soon be ordered to retreat anyway.

* * *

_Almost there,_ Mu La Flaga was totally focused on his mission. His Mobius lacked the sensors to detect the activation of the nuclear reactors as what they were, and couple that with the strict radio silence...and he had no idea what the _Nazca_ had suddenly started moving _towards_ the battle.

All he _did_ know, and care about, was the fact it made it even easier to hit the warship. With the increasing amount of debris surrounding his Mobile Armor and the ZAFT warship, it hid his vector rather well. He doubted even Rau knew he was there. And that made a perfect opportunity to...

"Yahoo!"

Flaring his Zero's thrusters, Mu launching into a steep 'climb'. The _Nazca_ began to slowly angle down, CIWS sputtering in every direction. Mu ignored all of that, deploying his gunbarrels as he poured shell after shell into the side of the blue warship. The Hawk whooped again, when a shell from his linear cannon set off a massive secondary explosion. He must have hit an ammunition store, if the size of _that_ blast was any indication. Still, one Zero did not a ship-killer make, even with the element of surprise. Retracting his gunbarrels before a stray shot could hit one, Mu fired a long cable into the side of the _Nazca_ and use it to slingshot his way out.

Ineffectual fire followed him, as he shot off towards the _Archangel_. The crippled warship behind him didn't even have time to relax either.

_Have hit enemy Nazca. Fire when ready._

After typing that into his comm systems, Mu angled his Zero slightly. Because clear on the other side of the battle, where the X was now assisting the Strike against the Aegis, the _Archangel_ opened its 'legs' once more. Instead of the empty hangar though, what was exposed was the powerful Lohengrin cannons. Not on the level of the Satellite Cannon...

But against a crippled _Nazca_, they didn't need to be.

"Whoa," Mu muttered, as angry red fire lanced from the warship, and right past his Zero...vaporizing even the largest chunks of debris in its way.

Not able to turn back to look at the _Nazca_, the blonde didn't know how much damage was done to his enemy. What he did know, was that it had to be bad. Considering the _Sverige_ had added its own _four-_ albeit smaller -blasts to the _Archangel's_ two...it wasn't a surprise to him that the Mobile Suits retreated.

_That went better than I expected_, the Hawk mused, as he moved to land, _Wonder what the new G-Weapon is though..._

He was in for quite the shock when he landed and was told about the Gundam X...they all were.

* * *

**AN: Not quite satisfied with this chapter. Sorry it took so long!**

**Sky: Incidentally, while _Amy_ Takeo will feature here and there, _Jaden_ Takeo is going to be in a Astray-esque side story. Don't expect that anytime soon though, since the main story is still so 'new'.**

**DX: What Sky said. I hope everyone enjoys the chapter! And yes, the whole 'fusion reactor' thing is going to be causing problems on both sides of the fence. Needless to say, ZAFT is going to go mad trying to sink the _Sverige_ and wreck the X. Can't afford to not to, really.**

**Sky: Naturally. There is going to be all sorts of Alliance pressure to turn over the tech too. There _is_ a reason why Sword is not overtly tied to any nation.**

**DX: Yep. Let us know what you think! :D**


	7. Phase 7: Artemis

**AN: Yeah, busy is about what one can say about my life right now.**

**Sky: That and we're both focusing more on our solo projects (_Angel_ for me, _Ori War_ for her).**

**DX: That too. So updates will be a bit sporadic. I do apologize for that :(**

**Sky: Disclaimer ahoy: We don't own Gundam, and Isabel Doris is the property of northernlion196 while Alexandra Bernhard is the property of Patriot-112.**

* * *

**January 25th, CE. 71**

**AFS _Archangel_**

* * *

As the Strike powered down in the _Archangel_'s hangar, Kira Yamato panted and gripped the controls tightly. No amount of Alexandra's simulations could have prepared him for that. Fighting Athrun like that...it had hurt. He hadn't really been prepared to be flinging beams of death at his _best friend_. Nor had he been prepared for the Aegis to do the exact same to him. One wrong move on either of their parts, and one of the friends would have been going home alone...with the guilt of killing the other. Kira knew, he _knew_, that he couldn't handle that. If he had killed Athrun...

He wouldn't have been able to live with himself.

The terror of that, the terror of combat in general, and the slowly receding adrenaline rush all left him barely conscious of events around him. All the young Coordinator could do was sit...sit and stare at his hands. He panted as sweat ran down his face, dead to the world.

"Why hasn't the kid come out yet?" Mu La Flaga asked, floating up to the Strike's cockpit.

Kojiro Murdoch, the Chief Mechanic, was going to answer that question. Alexandra, still in her flightsuit, beat him to the punch.

"We don't know," the blonde Scandinavian replied, "I'd bet he's in shock."

"In...of course," Mu's face turned from his typical grin to a frown...one born of long experience, "That was his first real battle. He probably hasn't realized its over yet."

Alexandra nodded, "That's what I was thinking. I would get him out, but I don't know the codes to the Strike."

"Of course you don't. Let's see here..."

The blonde ace floated to the opposite side of the Strike's cockpit. Removing a small panel, he exposed the override controls for the cockpit. As one of the _Archangel's_ assigned pilots, he had been briefed on the codes and locations of the overrides on all the G-Weapons. He had never thought he would have to _use_ that knowledge though. Muttering under his breath, Mu entered the code specific to the Strike.

Beside him, the cockpit slid open, allowing the blonde access to its inside. Where he found Kira, still holding his controls tightly.

"Hey, Kira," Mu spoke softly, "it's over...we're all okay. I'm fine, you're fine. Your girlfriend Alex is fine."

"Girlfriend?!" the Scandinavian in question was strongly tempted to slap the Hawk silly.

Regardless of her feelings on his 'motivational speech' it did do the job. Kira's hands relaxed on his controls, and his breathing slowly went back to the normal. The Coordinator blinked his violet eyes, looking at Mu with an almost confused look on his face.

"It's over?"

The Hawk nodded, "Yeah, it's over. Come on, let's get you out of here."

Kira didn't resist Mu's hands, as the older pilot unstrapped him. Shakily floating out of the cockpit, Kira felt Alexandra put an arm around his shoulder. The dirty blonde squeezed lightly, pointedly ignoring Mu's chuckling.

"You did good out there Kira," she said, just as softly as the Hawk had spoken, "You did good."

"Thanks..."

Alexandra squeezed a second time, before letting go, "Don't thank me. That was your skill. Hopefully we don't have to rely on it again...I'm sure you don't enjoy the idea of fighting again."

The teen shook his head, energy returning to his frame, "No, no I don't."

"No one really does," Mu sighed, "well, no one sane anyway. That being said, we should be safe in Artemis for at least a little while. I would suggest getting some time for a break kid. We're all going to need our rest for whenever we need to leave."

The three pilots entered a hallway, and began to move to the changing room. As they did though, the Hawk of Endymion remembered something. Turning back to Kira and Alexandra, he gave both pilots a serious look. Kira looked confused, while his Scandinavian counterpart merely raised an elegant eyebrow. The Hawk's own eyebrow went up in response, before he pulled them both aside.

"Now, while we're _hopefully_ safe here, I think it's a good idea to put locks on our Mobile Suits," he said, all hints of joviality gone from his voice.

"Sir?" Kira asked.

"To keep the Eurasians from getting anything out of them?" Alexandra asked, "I was already doing that with the Draken. With its OS, that's doubly important."

Kira just looked between the two, a look of confusion on his face. Not that one could blame him. While it would be a bit harsh to call Kira naïve, the fact remained that he wasn't a soldier. And he certainly wasn't a spy. So it wasn't that hard to understand that he couldn't figure out why the older pilots were worried about the Eurasians. Of course, it would be equally harsh to stereotype Eurasians as untrustworthy thieves.

But when top-secret Mobile Suits dropped into their laps, _anyone _would try to get the secrets out of them. Allies or not, that couldn't happen. Especially for Alexandra's Draken. There wasn't a chance in hell that anyone outside Sword and its sponsor nations could gain access to its technology.

"Why would we need to do that?" Kira finally asked.

Mu's face remained serious, even as he sighed, "Eurasia is our ally, but they won't hesitate to try and figure out what makes the Strike, and the Draken for that matter, tick. So I need you to lock your machine down Kira."

The Coordinator still clearly didn't understand, but nodded slowly nonetheless. He would put a new code on the Strike's computer as soon as he was changed out of his suit. If Mu thought it was important, and Alexandra agreed with him, then who was he to argue?

* * *

**Bridge**

* * *

The bridge of the _Archangel_ was rather less calm. Though just as with Kira's mood, one couldn't blame them. The bridge was silent, but there was an undercurrent of panic amongst the official crew. After all, their 'friend' had just revealed they had nuclear power. That should have been impossible. N-Jammers rendered nuclear power impossible, that was common knowledge. It was why the war had gone the way it had...the Earth Forces had a ridiculous number of nukes. And even Natarle 'By the Book' Badgiruel knew the command wouldn't hesitate to use them.

But now, they had a faction of apparent mercenaries...who had full access to nuclear power. That meant they had to have an N-Jammer Canceller of some sort. Otherwise, they would have no way of using reactors. Especially not one on a Mobile Suit scale...which was an innovation in of itself. So who exactly had they gotten together with?

"Message from the _Sverige_," Kuzzey Buskirk said softly.

"Time to figure out what is going on," Murue muttered, as the two ships continued to draw closer to Artemis.

_"I imagine you have many questions for us," _Lang commented dryly, the moment his face came on the screen.

"That is an understatement," the Alliance Lieutenant's voice was just as dry.

Lang cracked a smile, _"I can imagine. But yes, we have nuclear power."_

"How?" Natarle asked, her curiosity breaking through her military barriers.

_"How indeed..."_

"Are you toying with us?"

_"Not at all,"_ the Scandinavian replied, _"But you surely don't expect me to tell you how we can operate our reactors? We all have our secrets Ensign. Our secrets just happen to be ones that could end the world if put in the wrong hands."_

Murrue frowned slightly, "No offense intended Captain, but how do we know you are the _right_ hands for that technology?"

Lang's smile vanished, as his eyes narrowed slightly. That had touched a nerve. Even Natarle realized that much, as she stared at Murrue. The Lieutenant seemed to realize it too, as she opened her mouth to apologize. The redheaded Scandinavian didn't give her a chance though, as he began speaking again. It was clear he was angry, as his voice shook slightly.

_"We are not the ones who nuked an agricultural colony, Lieutenant," _the Captain spoke, his voice shaking, _"Do not suggest that we would do something like that. And it would take that, to make _us_ having the technology worse than the Alliance having it. We are helping you because it is our contract. Not because we support your leadership."_

Murrue winced...she had deserved that one. Junius Seven wasn't exactly a secret. Anyone who wasn't in Blue Cosmos would react that way, to the suggestion that they should be compared to those who destroyed the innocent colony. And really, she could see why Lang had taken her words that way. Even if it hadn't been her goal.

"I meant nothing like that Captain," the Alliance officer replied, "you have to understand, we are worried about _anyone_ having that kind of technology."

_"Within reason_," Lang replied, his voice calming down, _"nonetheless, you need not worry about us. In any case, you have your own problems to worry about. Artemis will need some sort of code to allow you entry."_

While it was clear that was just a diversion from the issue of the nuclear power, Lang _did_ have a point. The Umbrella remained up, as the ships moved towards it.

"Has Artemis accepted our codes?" Murrue looked over her shoulder.

Kuzzey blinked, and started looking at his console, "Umm...yes. They said they're sending a...welcoming party?"

"Understandable ma'am," Natarle spoke up, "We are an unregistered vessel. What about your ship Captain?"

The Scandinavian shrugged, _"We won't be docking. We are full on supplies, and in any case I doubt Artemis would be capable of holding both our vessels. We will patrol the area, and keep an eye on ZAFT."_

What was left unsaid, was that the _Sverige_ wouldn't be exposing itself to the Eurasians. Understandable, considering what they had aboard that ship. Regardless, as the two ships entered the Umbrella, they could hopefully feel safe for some time. After all, nothing could get through the Umbrella. Or, at least, nothing ZAFT had. It was an open question if the barrier could stand up to the Satellite Cannon. Not that Sword was going to test _that_ theory, of course.

That was beside the point though. Because the 'feeling safe' bit, only lasted a handful of minutes for the _Archangel_. As dozens of Eurasian soldiers began to swarm aboard...corralling the crew into the mess hall...

* * *

**HScMS _Sverige_**

* * *

"Man, what a battle," Luke Oskarson muttered, wiping sweat from his face as he secured the Gundam X.

"Tell me about it," Isabel Doris agreed, stretching slightly as she left her Draken.

Both Scandinavian machines showed signs of the fierce battle they had been involved in. The Draken had a handful of gouges in its armor from near-misses, and its rifle was being taken apart for repairs. The GX was better, but it still bore a scorch mark on its shoulder from where the Duel had hit it. That was Luke's cockiness showing through, more than anything else. He had the most powerful Mobile Suit in the Earth Sphere, and he tended to let that get to his head. He was just lucky that it's armor was tough enough to take a hit from a G-Weapon rifle with nothing more than a burn mark.

Even so, it was a stark reminder of the fact that the pilots who stole those machines were elite. Rookies maybe, but they didn't have red uniforms for nothing. And now that they knew the X existed, the _Sverige_ was going to be their main target. Fun times.

"Do you think we're safe here?" Isabel continued.

Luke sighed, "Not particularly. Even if the Eurasians don't try something stupid, which I doubt, we have the Blitz to worry about. If ZAFT figures out how that Mirage Colloid thing works..."

"We could be in trouble."

The male pilot nodded, "Yep. Though, that being said, I'd be surprised if it went after us first. They don't know what we're really capable of...sending that machine against us alone would be suicidal. I'd expect them to try and take Artemis down first, open the Umbrella."

"And if they take the Umbrella down, the Eurasians are screwed."

"Pretty much. I heard Artemis has a political admiral in charge."

Both pilots winced at that thought. Political officers were the worst. There was the occasional one who was actually a decent leader, but they were _very_ much in the minority. Which was hardly a good thing, if the Blitz was used like Luke expected it to be. Most political admirals didn't have the skill or creativity to adapt to such a shocking situation. Then again, _anyone_ would have trouble with _that_ G-Weapon. Being able to cloak like that was a very unique ability.

Realistically, Sword should warn the Eurasians. But...that wasn't their mission. They were only to protect the civilians aboard the _Archangel_. Anything else wasn't needed. So they didn't have to tell the Eurasians. And in any case, it was doubtful Artemis would believe them anyway.

"Well, I want to take a shower before they show back up," Luke continued, tucking his helmet under his arm.

"No argument here," Isabel agreed, grimacing slightly.

Before the pilots could move though, Captain Lang walked into the hangar. The officer made a beeline straight for his pilots.

"I'm sure you two want to rest, and I'm sorry to say this, but I need you ready to launch again."

Luke sighed, "Seriously sir?"

"Yes, I'm serious," the redhead replied.

"Why?" Isabel asked.

"Because you know what the Blitz can do as well as I do. I want to make sure we aren't caught with our pants down. I fully expect ZAFT to target _us_ as much as Artemis, if they manage to do anything to the Umbrella."

Evidently the Captain was physic. Or he had talked to a mechanic who had overheard the pilots. Either way, Lang managed to talk about the exact same thing they had been worrying about. Which was somewhat scary.

"Roger that sir," Luke sighed again, as he went to take a much quicker shower than he had wanted.

If they had to be ready, then they would damn well be ready.

* * *

**Artemis**

* * *

"Well it seems you all have authentic Atlantic Federation identification codes," the commander of Artemis, a rather large man by the name of Gerard Garcia said.

"We apologize for any trouble we might have caused," Mu replied, keeping diplomatic even if something about this man rubbed him the wrong way.

Garcia merely smirked, "It's no problem, I assure you. Especially not helping someone of your caliber, Hawk of Endymion. I too saw my share of fighting on the Grimaldi Front. Helping a fellow veteran is the least I can do."

"Oh, you were part of Commodore Vallard's unit?"

"That's right. Your feat of single handily taking down five GINNs gave us a sorely needed morale boost."

"That's kind of you to say sir."

Garcia nodded, and turned to look at the other officers. His face didn't change expression, but Murrue felt a chill nonetheless. The man was oily...she could tell that much. He might, or might not, be a good commander...but he felt more like a politician. The way he talked to Mu, the way he looked at them...it all felt like a politician. She couldn't shake the feeling he wanted something from them. And the only thing they had to offer was the _Archangel_ herself.

Allies or not, that wouldn't fly. Murrue had no problem, in of itself, with sharing resources with allies. But right now, the _Archangel_ was still a top secret of the Atlantic Federation. The Eurasians had no right to her, not yet. So for now, she was beginning to worry that Garcia had every intention of ignoring her wishes on that matter.

"I'm sure you're aware that resupplying you quickly can be_...difficult_..." the Admiral continued.

"Sir, with all due respect, we have to reach Lunar HQ as soon as possible. Our ship is being pursued by ZAFT," Murrue spoke up.

"By ZAFT?" Garcia asked, a hint of mocking in his tone, as he pressed a button.

The screen behind the Eurasian changed to show a view outside Artemis. A view of the two _Laurasia_ class ships, still hovering outside the Umbrella. And of course, also the _Sverige_, still inside the shield.

"As you can see, the ZAFT ships have been patrolling around the Umbrella. And your...friend...has not moved. I admit to being curious about that vessel, especially its...nuclear...power."

"We don't know anymore than you do Admiral," Murrue replied, "the _Sverige_ are mercenaries."

"Mercenaries?" Garcia snorted, "Mercenaries with nuclear reactors? You're being duped Captain. And I do intend to find out how. But for now, even if I resupplied your vessel, you would be unable to leave."

Mu struggled to stay calm, "Sir, we have no reason to doubt their words. And if we stay here too long, especially with the _Sverige_, ZAFT will eventually break a way in."

The Eurasian Admiral flat out laughed at that. Mu grit his teeth, thoroughly annoyed with the man. If he had truly served on the Grimaldi Front, he would _know_ that ZAFT was tenacious. Nothing could hold the Coordinators for long. Artemis had lasted so long because ZAFT had no interest in it. With the _Archangel_ and her nuclear counterpart in the base, ZAFT would have a _very_ large reason to change their minds.

They couldn't sit here and risk it.

"There is no way for ZAFT to harm Artemis. They will eventually leave, as always happens," the Admiral said, "now, I suggest you all rest. We will contact Lunar HQ whenever ZAFT leaves. And figure out what to do with the 'mercenaries'."

"Sir..." Mu said.

"Please, go on," Garcia waved a hand, as soldiers took the officers away. He turned his eyes on the viewscreen...that now displayed the _Archangel_ and her mysterious counterpart...

* * *

**ZNS _Gamow_**

* * *

"The Umbrella of Artemis. The perfect defensive weapon...nothing can go in, or out," Captain Zelman spoke, as a diagram of the fortress was displayed on the bridge of the _Laurasia_-class frigate.

"What a pointless weapon," Dearka Elsman snorted, "They can't hurt us!"

"Be that as it may," the Captain replied, "It is perfect in purely defensive terms. Nothing we have can hurt them. It would take a concentrated fleet bombardment to hurt Artemis with conventional weapons. We lack the supplies to wait long enough for that."

"So what it comes down to is we can't hurt them and they can't hurt us?" the blonde Coordinator started chuckling at his own joke.

Yzak Joule, silver-headed hothead of the team, glared at his fellow pilot, "Stop clowning around Dearka! Do _you_ want to be the one to tell the Commander we couldn't get in? Especially with that damn nuclear ship in there?!"

Everyone on the bridge of the ZAFT ship sobered up at that statement. Not one of them wasn't terrified of the implications of that strange ship. Nuclear weapons were the collective boogeyman for the Coordinator military with good reason. They certainly didn't like the idea of the Alliance getting their hands on it. Regardless of the fact that Eurasia was, marginally, more welcoming to their kind. It hardly mattered, since so far as ZAFT knew that ship was an Earth Forces one.

Luke hadn't told Yzak in his taunting that he wasn't part of the Alliance. So as far as ZAFT knew, the Alliance had nuclear capability if they could get that ship to the Moon. Needless to say, it was in some ways even more of a priority target than the Legged Ship now.

"Hmm," Nicol Amalfi, the youngest member of the team, hummed in thought, "But they can't keep the Umbrella up forever can they? Even a nuclear reactor can't run indefinitely..."

And since Artemis didn't have a nuclear reactor...

"No, it's only active when ships are within sensor range," Zelman confirmed, "I do not see how that helps us however. If we attempted to sneak up on the base they would detect us in plenty of time to activate the Umbrella. And they would be prepared for such a trick in the future."

Nicol smiled slightly, "My own machine, the Blitz, may just be able to pull this off."

Everyone on the bridge turned to look at the young pilot, who merely smiled at them. They had no idea what he could do with that demonic looking machine...

"It has the same Phase Shift Armor as the other machines, aside from the one Yzak and I fought," he continued, "But it has another feature."

"_What_ feature?" Yzak asked, his attention fully on the younger pilot. If he had a way to get past that damn shield...

The smile never left Nicol's face as he began to explain just what the Blitz could do...

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The _Gamow_ and _Freund_ fired their thrusters, and began to leave the area. As they did so, the hangar on the former opened up, where Artemis couldn't see or detect it. Standing on the catapult, was the dull-grey GAT-X207 Blitz Gundam. The machine was in the final stages of preparation, as Nicol ran through his system checks. He didn't have any idea how well this plan of his would work...but it had to. He would die if it didn't, and Artemis would _never_ open the Umbrella. ZAFT could not afford to leave that station be, not with that strange ship in it.

"Trial and error with an untested system," Nicol muttered, "I really hope this works."

As his machine launched from the _Gamow_ and vanished into its unique cloak, Yzak and Dearka watched it go.

"The Earth Forces come up with some weird stuff," the silver-haired pilot muttered.

"Tell me about it," Dearka agreed, "Still, it's perfect for Nicol. A weapon fit for a coward."

Of course, Nicol was perhaps the bravest of all the ZAFT pilots. He was the one taking an untested machine into a hornets nest. A nest that had a machine more than capable of blowing the Blitz into floating atoms if he wasn't careful...

* * *

_**Archangel**_

* * *

_I have a very bad feeling about this..._

Alexandra sat next to Kira, warily watching the soldiers standing guard at the entrance to the mess hall. All the _Archangel's_ small crew had been crammed into the room, and she had been lumped into the lot despite her different uniform. It rubbed her the wrong way, that was for sure. The Eurasians were supposed to be allies of the Atlantic Federation, but they were treating the crew as prisoners. Not friends in need of aid. That was hardly a good thing. She was almost surprised that they hadn't tried to figure out who the pilots of the Mobile Suits were though.

Of course, she should also have known not to tempt fate. It rarely worked out well, Murphy had a thing for messing with those who tried. As she found out, when a man in an Admiral's uniform walked into the room. The somewhat portly man quickly zeroed in on the Scandinavian, and marched forward.

"Ah, so you're the pilot of the unidentified Mobile Suit," Garcia said, a hint of..._something_...in his eyes, "I don't recognize the uniform. I'm surprised a woman would be allowed to pilot it though."

His hand shot out, and pulled Alexandra to her feet. The Scandinavian quickly pulled away, stronger than her thin appearance would otherwise indicate.

"So what if I am?" she shot back, "You have no authority over me."

"Perhaps not," the Admiral replied, "however, if you are really a mercenary, I am willing to pay a fine sum for access to your machine."

"Nope," the dirty blonde shot back, "I am not authorized to take contracts."

Garcia grit his teeth, and instead looked at the Alliance crew, "Very well then. Which among you is the pilot of the Strike?"

Kira moved to get to his feet, but Murdoch pushed him down. Alexandra sent him a small warning look, before turning back to glaring at the Eurasian. Garcia seemed unfazed by this, as he continued to scan the crowd. Eventually, he settled on Miriallia. Grabbing the girl by the arm much as he had done with the Scandinavian pilot, he sneered at her.

"Oh, it must be this pretty little thing. After all, who would expect a young girl to fly a Mobile Suit?"

Both Alexandra and Kira growled at that, as the young Coordinator shot to his feet, "I'm the one you want! Leave her alone!"

"I doubt that brat!" Garcia sneered, "Now, who is the real pilot? You, tell me now!"

Garcia pointed at Alexandra, who glared at the finger. When the Admiral tightened his grip on Mir's shoulder and caused the girl to cry out in pain, several things happened at once. Kira broke from Murdoch's grip, and slugged the man in the face. Alexandra, after making sure Mir didn't hit anything, snapped a leg out and took a pair of soldiers down. Her hands came up with one of their rifles, as Garcia grumbled and climbed to his feet.

The man glared at the two pilots, who merely shared a look. They were both ready to fight if needed...they weren't going to let the Eurasians hurt any innocent people. That was against everything they stood for.

"I would suggest dropping that weapon," the Admiral spoke, rubbing his jaw, "Need I remind you that civilians are in here?"

Alexandra cursed...and did as he said. She wasn't going to risk a firefight.

"Good. Now, tell me who the pilot is?"

"I already told you it's me!" Kira shouted back.

"And I don't believe you! Unless...those reflexes...violet eyes..." Garcia examined Kira closer, "Ahh...a Coordinator."

One could have heard a pin drop at that statement. After all, Kira's status was well known amongst the _Archangel_ crew. Equally well known was the fact he didn't advertise what he was. He didn't want it to become what he was known as. None of them would have told the Eurasians. The fact Garcia figured it out on his own...maybe the man wasn't as dumb as he appeared. Or it was a very lucky guess. Regardless, the fact remained that it left Kira in a bad spot.

"Come with me to the hangar, both of you."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The little group of Eurasian soldiers and the two pilots they were escorting soon found themselves standing in front of the Strike and Draken. The former had its cockpit open, as scientists poked around inside it. Luckily for Alexandra, her Draken remained sealed. There wasn't anyone getting inside it without her express permission. And ideally, she wanted it to stay that way. Only Kira had been allowed outside of Sword, and she had no real intention of allowing Garcia access to it. Not if she could help it.

"You want us to remove the locks, right?" Kira asked.

"For starters," Garcia confirmed, a smug look on his face, "Though I imagine you could do so much more. Design another Mobile Suit like this one. Or perhaps weapons that could counter it? Oh, I'm sure there is _plenty_ you could do."

"Hate to break it to ya' old man," Alexandra countered, her patience quickly running thin, "But Kira here isn't a designer. Even if he was, you can't design a Mobile Suit that easily."

"I imagine you would know," the Admiral replied, "but nonetheless, a Coordinator is quite a valuable prize."

The way he said that sent shivers up both pilot's spines. Garcia was insane to suggest...to talk about Kira like he was a trophy. The kid was a human being. Sure he had some gene mods, but he was still _human_. There wasn't a way to get around that fact. Garcia didn't sound like a Blue Cosmos wackjob, if only because he wasn't trying to kill Kira. But using him like a walking computer...

"And besides, you're already a traitor to your fellow Coordinators."

Kira's eyes widened, as he flinched back. Images of Athrun flashed through his mind.

"A traitor..."

Alexandra snapped, "Shut up you bas..."

Before she could finish talking, a soldier brought a rifle into her gut. The Scandinavian let out a gasp, as she was forced to her knees. Kira turned around, and tried to run forward. Soldiers restrained him though, as Garcia looked down at the panting dirty blonde woman. The Eurasian had that infuriating smirk on his face, and made no effort to hide it any longer. It was clear he didn't care to hide his true nature now.

"I've had it up to here with you bitch," the man said, "shut up."

"You...bastard..."

Turning back to Kira, he tugged the pilot to the Strike and pushed him to the lift, "Unlock that machine. Or I will order some...unpleasant...things for your little friend."

The Coordinator didn't have a choice in the matter...not really.

"Yes sir..."

And so Kira got to work on unlocking the Strike, as Alexandra was forced at gunpoint to unlock her own machine's cockpit. She cursed under her breath the whole time...well and truly pissed off at the Admiral. How that man had gotten to his rank was beyond her. She worried about Kira too...her eyes softening as she looked at the Strike. The kid had to be hurting...she could tell that much. Being called a traitor like that...

God, it made her want to kick that Admiral out the nearest airlock.

_He has no right to say something like th...wait...is that an explosion?_

The _Archangel_ began shaking, as Artemis quaked around it. Alexandra was smart...it didn't take her long to figure out what was happening. The Blitz must have snuck in...she had been briefed on that machine.

Kicking the technicians off her machine, Alexandra smirked as Kira did the same. Both Mobile Suits began moving to the catapults, as the Eurasians scattered. The nearly twin Mobile Suits quickly took off, as explosions began to blossom around the dock. The Blitz was quickly revealed to be the source, as ships detonated around the black Gundam.

It was not the only source of fire however. Duel and Buster were dueling the GX and firing on ships at the same time.

"Damn it! Why here?!" Kira shouted, raising his sword against the Blitz.

"Stay focused Kira!" Alexandra shouted back, "Don't make a mistake!"

She hated saying that...but he wasn't in condition to be fighting right now.

_"Yo, Alexandra!"_ Luke broke in, ducking under a swing from the Duel, _"The Sverige is heading for the opposite side of the base. We don't have the forces to win this. Get out of here fast!"_

"I would, but we're rather busy!"

As the Blitz nearly skewered her Draken with a lancer dart, the point was driven home rather well. Explosions grew in ferocity too, as ships began detonating and adding to the conflagration. Artemis was history...there was no way the base was surviving this battle. Too many ships had blown. Too many holes had been made in its structure. It was impossible for the base to survive.

Then again...returning her focus to her own battle, Alexandra acknowledged that _she_ would survive. The Strike brought up its anti-ship sword, as the Draken drew its own green blade. The two machines flew at the other, pinning the Blitz between them. Only a quick maneuver on the part of the black machine's pilot saved his Gundam. Even so, he was forced back as the Strike, Draken and GX boosted through a rather large explosion.

The three machines landed on the deck of the _Archangel_, as the ship boosted out of the rapidly exploding base. It was joined by the _Sverige_, as the two warships left the area as quickly as they had arrived...

* * *

"Hey, Kira...you in there?" Alexandra asked softly.

She was standing outside the door of Kira's quarters, after the ships had made their escape from Artemis. The young Coordinator had locked himself inside, and refused to come out. She couldn't even blame him for it really...not after what Garcia had said to him. The kid was probably in shock. It did rather annoy her that Mu hadn't come with her though. The Hawk got along well with Kira...it really should have been him here.

Failing that though, it fell to her to make sure her...protégé...was okay.

"Please...I need some time alone..."

Kira's voice sounded broken. Alexandra winced slightly, but didn't give up. She opened the door slightly, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness.

"I know you want to be alone," she whispered into the dark, "but that's the last thing you need right now."

The teenager didn't respond, just rolling over onto his side. Alexandra carefully entered the room, and sat down on the bed across from the Coordinator. Kira was clearly depressed, and she didn't blame him. But he needed to talk about what had happened, or it would eat him up inside. She knew that much...from experience. Pushing her own thoughts away from that depressing line of thought, she patted Kira on the shoulder.

"Look, don't think about what that idiot said," she said comfortingly.

"How can I not?" Kira replied, still not looking at his mentor, "He's right. I'm a Coordinator, fighting my own people."

"Kira, he's _not_ right," the Scandinavian countered, "You aren't a traitor. You were never in ZAFT...if you're from Orb, I doubt you've ever even gone to the PLANTs! How can you be a traitor then? You aren't betraying Orb are you?"

Though Alexandra couldn't exactly see it, Kira's eyes widened slightly. The teen absorbed her words...and couldn't find any fault in them. He wasn't betraying his friends, or his nation. But...even with that...

"But I'm still fighting At..."

The Scandinavian blinked her blue eyes, and looked at Kira curiously. The teen had said the start of what seemed to be a name, and then clamped up. If anything, he was being even more secretive than he had before. And that was saying something, considering he hadn't exactly been open since she came in here in the first place. But...what could he have been saying? She didn't know...Alexandra was friends with Kira, but she still didn't _know_ him.

That being said, maybe this was why he went for the Aegis? In both of their battles that involved the crimson G-Weapon, he had gone right for it. Alexandra had wondered why at the time, but maybe this had something to do with it?

"Kira? You don't have to tell me, but I do want to help you."

The teen sighed, "It's...a long story. I can trust you, right?"

"You can trust me," Alexandra confirmed, "I'd never do anything to hurt you."

Kira was quiet for a second, before he spoke up again, "My best friend...Athrun Zala...is the pilot of the Aegis..."

* * *

**DX: And there we go! I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter! :D**

**Sky: Not really satisfied with the battle though. Not that it was ever very long to begin with...**

**DX: Maybe. But _I_ am satisfied with how the Kira/Alexandra thing is going. That could really go any direction at this point...older sister-figure+mentor. Just mentor. Heck, I wouldn't be against pairing fun if the readers wanted it. Really could go anywhere with those two at this point...it's certainly fun to write!**

**Sky: No argument here.**

**DX: Remember to review if you liked the chapter! We'll try and get the next one up as soon as possible! ;)**


	8. Phase 8: Debris Belt

**AN: IT LIVES!**

**Sky: No need to yell.**

**DX: But I'm happy! :D**

**Sky: Yes, yes you are...anyway, hello readers. We apologize for how long this took to get up. Both of us have been more than a little busy for quite some time now. Toss in the fact that this chapter has our real major break with the established story, and it took longer than we would have liked to get up.**

**DX: _Way_ longer. Sorry about that...but we're back now! I hope the readers are still around. I can hardly believe the last chapter accumulated 20 reviews since it was posted...that's a lot for a SEED fic!**

**On that subject actually, I want to reply to one of them. Axcel? A story isn't abandoned until and unless I say it is ;)**

**Sky: So, without further adieu, here we are with the long-delayed update. Hope everyone enjoys it.**

**DX: And don't forget: ****Isabel Doris is the property of northernlion196 and Alexandra Bernhard is the property of Patriot-112.**

* * *

**_Archangel_**

* * *

_Kira was quiet for a second, before he spoke up again, "My best friend...Athrun Zala...is the pilot of the Aegis..."_

Alexandra blinked. If she had been expecting the teenager to say anything, it certainly wasn't _that._ What were the odds that Kira Yamato was friends with the pilot of one of the stolen G-Weapons? Even more so, what were the odds that said friend was the son of _Patrick Zala_. The odds were astronomical in fact. But Kira had really little reason to lie about something like that. After all, telling _anyone_ that he had a friend in ZAFT was something difficult. Lying about it would just be counter-productive really.

It did explain why Kira had always gone after the Aegis too. He probably wanted to talk to his friend. Or make sure that he wasn't killed. And really...Alexandra couldn't blame him there. She couldn't imagine what it must be like to fight such a close friend. Leave alone fight such a close friend in a life or death battle, where anyone else could kill him. It must be absolutely torturous really. No wonder Garcia's words had hit home...

The poor kid probably didn't know _what_ to think anymore.

"Umm...have you told anyone else?" Alexandra asked, trying to wrap her head around things.

"No..." Kira replied, actually sitting up to look at the older woman, "I...didn't know how anyone would react. What if they think I'm not trying hard enough? Because Athrun is my friend?"

Sighing slightly, the blonde smiled in what she hoped was a comforting way. It seemed to work, as Kira smiled back slightly too.

"Some may think that way. Probably Ensign 'By the Book' up on the bridge," she said with a slightly wider smile.

For his part, Kira laughed weakly at the image of Natarle's face should _that_ nickname reach her.

"...but your friends? I'm sure they wouldn't care. If anything, they'd probably try and support you. I know I will...I can't imagine what it's like having to fight your friend like that. It must be horrible."

The frown was back on the teens face at that statement, "Yeah...it is. We're not trying to hurt each other, but..."

"It still hurts?"

"Yes."

Alexandra sighed softly. It was likely that Kira would feel that way for the entire time he was on the _Archangel_, no matter what she could say to the contrary. And she couldn't even really blame him. Having to fight his friend was obviously going to tear him up badly. Especially since there wasn't any choice but to fight, at least not to the teenager in front of her. She was honestly surprised he didn't hate her...she had made it clear he didn't have to fight, but she was also one of those who had him continue doing it. Kira would be perfectly within his rights to hate her and the _Archangel_ crew for having him fight his best friend...even if she was the only one who knew.

And wasn't that a sign of just how much he trusted her. She wasn't sure she deserved that trust- after all, she had been lying to him since day one...he still had no idea she was from Scandinavia...but it was nice nonetheless. Kira may have been a fair chunk younger than her, but he was still a great friend to have around.

"Thank you for this..." the teen spoke softly.

Because for his part, Kira viewed Alexandra as probably the one person he _could_ tell this too. He could hardly tell Lieutenant La Flaga, the one other person he got along with that was a pilot, about Athrun. Even if the older man were understanding of just what type of situation the Coordinator found himself in, the fact remained that he had a friend in the enemy forces that were chasing them. Even though he wasn't a soldier, Kira _did _realize just how big a conflict of interests that represented. Mu would hardly be able to give him advice, when he had a duty as an Earth Forces pilot to defeat anything and everything ZAFT threw at him.

Alexandra though...she was a friend. He had met her before the _Archangel_, before he was forced to fly the Strike. Not to mention she wasn't a member of the Earth Forces. He knew he could trust her to keep his secret, and help him however she could. It was for that reason he told her first instead of his friends. They wouldn't understand...he knew that Sai, Mir...all of them would be nice about it, but they wouldn't know how to _help_ him. The woman next to him could, where they couldn't.

"It's no problem," the woman in question waved a hand dismissively, "I wouldn't be much of a friend if I didn't offer to help. I'm not sure what to do to help though."

"At least you're offering," Kira sighed.

"Like I said, it's the least I can do."

Kira smiled slightly at that, before his eyes widened slightly. Alexandra cocked her head, curious what was on his mind.

"Wait...you aren't with the Earth Forces."

She hadn't been expecting that.

"No...I'm not. Why?"

The teen stood up, a light of determination filling his eyes that hadn't been there before, "You could work out a way to contact ZAFT right? Get a message to Athrun? He doesn't want to listen to me on the battlefield. He thinks I'm working with the Earth Forces to fight ZAFT. He said that the 'Naturals are just using me'. Nothing I said made him think differently. I think it's because we were fighting..."

Head spinning slightly, Alexandra held up a hand, "Whoa, slow down there Kira."

A sheepish smile crossed the younger pilot's face, "Sorry."

"No big deal, just...repeat that for me?" the Scandinavian couldn't quite help the smile that crossed her face.

"Right...I know that you're fighting ZAFT with us. But if you could get a message out to Athrun, he might be more willing to listen. I think he's too angry at me when we're fighting to listen."

"Well, he would have good reason," Alexandra mused, purposely ignoring the kicked look Kira sent her, "Really, he does. If your situation were reversed, how would _you_ feel to see him fighting with the Earth Forces? I..._think_...I remember Lenore Zala was killed at Junius Seven. It was in one of the reports on the attack, since Patrick Zala is so high up in ZAFT."

"You're right..."

"_But_, you are his friend. I can see why you'd want to try changing his mind even in a battle. But I really don't think he'll listen, not in one. And I hate to say it...but..."

Kira's face fell, "You wouldn't be able to reach him?"

Alexandra just shook her head softly, "No, probably not. I mean, if _we_ didn't look like we were part of the Earth Forces- remember how much the Draken looks like a G-Weapon? -it might work. But even if I could find the right frequency, he probably wouldn't take it...or it would get intercepted by Le Cresuet. And I don't think you want that."

The teen shook his head rapidly, "No I don't!"

"Figured," Alexandra couldn't quite hold back a laugh, "I can at least help you talk to him during battles, if they still chase us. Keep the other ZAFT pilots off your back. Just promise me one thing."

"What?" Kira asked curiously.

"Don't die."

If the teen had been expecting anything, it most certainly wasn't _that_. He blinked rapidly, trying to process that request. It had been so out of left-field he didn't really know how to react to it actually. Alexandra was sending him an intense stare, her blue eyes sharp. Kira really didn't know how to react. Granted, he hardly knew how to act around women to begin with. This was just adding onto that existing insecurity of his. He knew she probably expected an answer though...even if he had no idea why she had made the request in the first place. It seemed natural to assume he _wasn't_ going to try and get himself killed.

"Okay," was all he could say.

The older woman's face broke into a smile, "Good. Now, I'll let you get some rest. I'll be in the hangar tuning the Draken if you need me. That GINN pilot from before Artemis was pretty good...don't want to let myself get rusty."

"Yeah...you don't die either."

If anything, the smile grew wider, "Don't worry, I won't. See you later Kira."

As she shut the door, the smile fell off Alexandra's face. Shaking her head slightly, she sighed as she walked away from Kira's room.

_What was I thinking back there? He probably think's I'm crazy or something._

The Scandinavian was well aware how out of left-field, so to speak, her question had been. Kira probably didn't have the slightest idea why she had asked him to promise he wouldn't die. _She_ wasn't quite sure why she had asked that. It had been a very spur of the moment request, to say the least. Suffice to say that poor Kira wasn't the only one confused by it. If it was a request that the asker had to justify to herself, then it was probably one that wasn't thought out. And it wasn't...Alexandra certainly hadn't gone into that room with the intention of making Kira promise her that he would get out of this alive. She wanted him to live obviously, but making him promise her...that wasn't something one planned ahead on.

That being said.

"I still don't think he should even be fighting," the woman muttered to herself, running a hand through her chin-length hair, "maybe that's why I asked him that. I don't want Kira getting himself hurt...or killed...fighting Athrun. I can only keep so many things off his back, and with the target the Captain painted on all our backs...ZAFT won't hold back. Not now."

Sighing and leaning against a wall, she chuckled weakly...though it lacked any real humor, "We're in a real mess now."

"We're what now?" Mu La Flaga, of course, had to choose that moment to walk by. Where was the damn idiot when she needed him earlier?

"In a big mess."

Mu's smile turned into a slight frown, "Yeah, you're right about that. No supplies from Artemis, and now ZAFT is going to be sending everything they can spare after us. Bad enough when we just had the G-Weapons...now we have _you _guys with that Gundam of yours. No offense."

Alexandra smiled slightly, "None taken. I wouldn't have used the GX like that myself...ZAFT has plenty of reasons to be paranoid about nukes..._no offense_."

To his credit, the other pilot winced, "Look, I'm not any happier about the Bloody Valentine than anyone in ZAFT. That should never have happened, and if I had been able to stop it I would have."

"I know...but the point remains. I like you guys, but the Earth Forces as a whole...well, ZAFT is right to worry that we're working with them."

Neither pilot could very well deny that point. ZAFT had many, many reasons to worry about the Alliance getting nukes back. And the fact was, that Sword was working with them by all indications. Of course, they had no way of knowing that the multinational force posing as mercs were only helping the _Archangel_ because of the civilians aboard...and waiting for a way to get them away from the Alliance if at all possible.

"Anyway," Mu moved the conversation to safer territory, "We need to figure out a way to solve the supply problems. Mind coming up to the bridge with me Alex?"

A sigh answered that, "Only if you stop calling me that. Like I've asked the past twenty times."

"Sure thing Alex."

If there was ever a time that Alexandra was tempted to slam her head into a bulkhead, it was now.

* * *

**PLANTS, Aprilius One, Supreme Council Chamber**

* * *

Let it be known that Athrun Zala was not a coward. He was only sixteen years old, but he had already fought in several life-or-death battles, in a machine that could have killed him just from the experimental nature of it. He had seen friends die, and had fought on anyway. He had fought his _best friend_, and a nuclear powered Mobile Suit. The last of which should by all rights have been impossible, and was terrifying itself. And yet, none of these things had really _scared_ the teen. Made him frustrated or angry? Gotten his blood rushing with the adrenaline of battle despite himself? Certainly. Scared? Not so much.

So it would come as a surprise to most, especially himself, at just how _nervous _he felt standing in the Supreme Council Chamber of the PLANTs. Feeling all the eyes of the Council on him and his commander alone was not a comfortable experience by any definition. Especially as two of those people were quite familiar and close to the teen. His own father, Patrick Zala...the head of the Defense Committee, and de facto commander of ZAFT itself. And Chairman Siegel Clyne, his future father _in law_, and the most powerful man in the PLANTs. And the thing was...neither were sending him comforting looks. His father was sharp-eyed and harsh, while Chairman Clyne was doing his utmost to appear neutral.

It didn't help matters any more that the rest of the council bore mostly hostile looks.

"That concludes my report," Commander Le Creuset was saying, "As you can clearly see, it was through no fault of our soldiers that Heliopolis collapsed. It was clearly the actions of the Earth Forces that precipitated the collapse."

Athrun could only watch as his Commander returned to the bench they were sharing. He hadn't been asked to report, and admittedly, there was part of him that was certainly happy about that.

"So it was Orb all along!" one of the representatives shouted angrily, "they violated the treaty by working with the Earth Forces!"

"However..." another began.

"Tell me," the elder Zala broke in, "Commander Le Creuset...were these new machines worth the sacrifices made by our ZAFT forces?"

A smile crossed the masked man's face, before he turned his head slightly, "To illustrate their phenomenal capabilities, I have here with me one of my pilots. He piloted one of the machines in combat with the others, and has a...unique...perspective on their abilities. I would like permission to have Athrun Zala make a report."

Looking up quickly, Athrun felt his eyes widen slightly.

_I do have to make a report?_

Admittedly, he had wondered why the Commander didn't make a report on the specific machines...and left out the nuclear one. But he hadn't thought it would fall on _him_ to do it at all.

"Athrun Zala may make his report," Chairman Clyne nodded, as the teen snapped to attention. Wouldn't do to look anything but military precise as he made this important of a report...to this important of a group.

When he reached the podium that his Commander had formerly stood at, Athrun took a slight breath, before standing at full attention, back rigid in military pose. To either side of him viewscreens came to life. Showing a view of the Aegis, both in the hangar of its temporary home aboard ZNS _Lettow_ while _Vesalius_ was repaired, and then in space during his combat with the Earth Forces.

"To begin, we have the X-303 Aegis," the bluenette decided that starting with his own machine was a safe bet, "this machine has a unique feature that sets it aside from the rest. It's frame- what we believe is the reasoning behind its equally unique designation -allows it to transform into a mobile armor form. In this form, the only weapons are the beam sabers and possibly the most powerful single weapon on any of the Earth Forces mobile suits, the 580mm Scylla energy cannon. This weapon would be quite capable of gutting a warship in a single attack."

Letting that sink in, Athrun waited as the screen changed from the Aegis to the next in line. In this case, the simplest of the machines...though he would never mention _that_ to it's pilot if he valued his life.

"X-102 Duel," the pilot continued, as the blue/white machine took the screen, "we believe this to be the earliest design due to its simplicity. There doesn't seem to be any specific job the Duel was designed for, as it only mounts two beam sabers and a beam rifle. Intelligence believes it is a technology demonstrator more than a combat machine, a test-bed for the other machines technology."

As the screen was taken by Dearka's machine, Athrun switched tacks easily enough, "On the other hand, X-103 Buster is a specialist machine much as the other machines aside from Duel and the one that got away. In the case of Buster, an artillery support model. This machine is armed with a 350mm gun-launcher and a 94mm beam rifle. In addition to the missile pods mounted in the machine's shoulders, this would already provide more firepower than even D-class GINN equipment. However, the Buster can also combine its beam weaponry to form either a long-range sniper rifle or a short-range anti-armor shotgun."

"The final machine we captured was X-207 Blitz," he finished, as the pitch black machine was shown launching from _Gamow_, "Blitz has perhaps the most dangerous feature of any of the Earth Alliance machines we secured. The Mirage Colloid stealth system, that renders the machine invisible to visual sight and any current form of sensor. If we had not secured this machine, it is likely the Earth Forces would have surprised our forces with cloaked weaponry or even warships."

That final statement concluded anything Athrun may have had to say on the subject of the machines captured. But it still left the elephant in the room untouched...the subject of the other machines. The Strike...and the unidentified machines. Needless to say, the bluenette cast a look over his shoulder at his commander, asking if he should continue. Rau merely nodded, his hand manipulating a control to place his own combat footage on the screen. His combat footage against the first mystery machine.

"This machine was encountered by Commander Le Creuset outside Heliopolis," Athrun explained, as the white/red machine fired its odd pink beams at the camera, "It is not in the computers of our captured mobile suits, and is clearly a different design though it bears some similarities to the G-Weapons. Based on combat experience against it, we believe it is more agile and at least slightly faster than the captured machines, though it lacks a key feature in the Phase Shift Armor that our captured mobile suits use. As such, it is vulnerable to our current weapons, though it is clearly superior to the GINN and CGUE."

The next machine to appear was the Strike, making it clear to the young pilot that the true issue was being saved for last.

"This is the one G-Weapon we missed of the original five intel indicated. X-105 Strike is the closest to the Duel in frame and purpose in its base form, but that is where the similarities end. It possesses a unique feature in the use of modular weapons packs, what our intel terms Striker Packs. As of yet we have only seen three variations. One provides a sword and beam boomerang, and appears to be the least effective design due to the inherent limitations in a melee oriented machine. The second is similar to Buster, though it provides the Strike with a significantly more powerful cannon capable of blowing a hole in the side of Heliopolis with a single shot. Finally, there is a multi-role pack, centered on a set of thrusters that adds the same weaponry as Duel, minus the grenade launcher on the rifle."

Having said all of that in one breath, Athrun halted to give the council time to digest the news.

"This is outrageous...Orb was working with the Naturals to develop mobile suits?!"

"I can't believe they actually built these."

"Five mobile suits are hardly a threat..."

"Only until they begin mass production, and _that_ is the next step."

Finally, the conversations stopped as Patrick Zala got to his feet. He looked at the council, suitably cowed as they stared back at him, before shifting his gaze to his son. Athrun didn't overly react to it, though he did start standing just that much stiffer. His father's eyes left him, and moved to Commander Le Creuset, who met the gaze evenly. The two men stared the other down, before the Commander pressed more keys. Athrun didn't need to look at the viewscreens to know what had appeared either. The gasps from the rest of the Council made it abundantly clear.

Nonetheless, he did turn his head and look. And saw the final mystery machine displayed...the one machine that was truly a threat to all the PLANTs, if only for its power source. After all...nothing was a greater threat than nuclear weapons.

"This is the last machine we encountered," Athrun took a deep breath before continuing, "And it is nuclear powered."

Predictably, the council exploded at those words. Even the Coordinator teen's advanced hearing couldn't pick out the rapid fire shouting going back and forth between the older people. Through it all, his father bore a smug look...like he was planning something. He _had_ already known about this...the Commander had told him on the shuttle here. But Athrun didn't have the slightest idea why the rest of the council hadn't been informed. His father and the Commander hadn't really talked about it, to be totally fair.

_Is this why? To do..._

Before he could finish the thought, his father did whatever he had been planning.

"Quiet!" his commanding voice rang out, getting the council to simmer down.

Once he was satisfied with the quiet, the elder Zala began speaking, "The existence of this mobile suit is just further proof of the traitorous views of the Naturals. There is no reason to give a mobile suit such a power source, unless it was just the first step towards what began this war. A war that we were forced into, because the Naturals refused to listen to us. And continue to refuse to end, despite every attempt at peace we have put forth."

As he said that, Patrick looked at the council. They were watching him with rapt attention, though only Siegel Clyne showed any measure of unease at the fiery speech. Knowing the man as he did...Athrun wasn't that surprised by that. The Clynes in general were always peaceful and hated the war, even more so than most Coordinators.

"And the existence of this mobile suit makes it clear that the Earth Forces have no intention of ending this war with anything but our extinction! Why else would they continue to develop nuclear technology, somehow getting past our last defense in the N-Jammers in the process? If they can develop nuclear power, nuclear weapons are the next step in line. And I doubt I need to remind the Council of what occurred the last time the Alliance had nuclear arms...the anniversary of the Bloody Valentine should make that clear."

Looking out at the quiet politicians, Zala clenched his fist, "243,721 of our civilians dead in one moment. This tragedy has driven us this entire war. And now the Alliance is looking to repeat it! We don't want this war, but if we must fight to protect...then fight we will!"

Having said his piece, the man turned away from the council. Whom, for their parts, had begun to clap with the exception of Siegel Clyne and Eileen Canaver. It was little wonder that the speech had inflamed the council to at least some extent. The worry about the Earth Forces regaining nuclear capability had been the driving force behind the majority of ZAFT operations. Keeping them occupied with defending, so they would be unable to develop a Neutron Jammer Canceller. Of course, they still had yet to do so...even Sword had yet to do so, merely taking advantage of the existing _fusion_ design from the GX.

As that was clearly not known by ZAFT however...

"Commander Le Creuset."

"Sir?" the masked man stood at attention.

"I am assigning the Third Battlegroup to your command. Destroy the nuclear mobile suit at any and all costs. Do I make myself clear?"

A small smirk crossed Le Creuset's face, _Oh you make yourself very clear. An entire battlegroup? Oh this is quite entertaining Defense Chairman._

"Yes sir," of course, that was all he allowed himself to _say_.

Patrick Zala nodded, and turned to Siegel Clyne. Who merely sighed heavily, and dismissed the Council. ZAFT had a new mission...and they would not, _could_ not, fail.

* * *

**Debris Belt**

* * *

Somewhat naturally, this mission was totally unknown to the designated targets. To be sure, Captain Lang knew the moment he gave the order to use the GX that his ship would become a major target. But _how_ major of a target was clearly unknown. And in any case, the problem of ZAFT didn't seem quite so immediate at the moment. The much more crucial problem for the two warships and their crews currently coasting toward the Debris Belt was supplies. The _Sverige_ had more than enough supplies to feed her crew for the foreseeable future. It wasn't the Sword vessel that was the problem here. No, that problem was the slightly larger warship next to it.

The _Archangel_ had left Heliopolis with only enough supplies to keep the crew going for a very limited trip. ZAFTs attack had cut off the loading of supplies, both from the original Alliance stockpiles and later from the supplies 'liberated' from Morgenroete. That had left the Alliance warship with limited supplies even for its small crew and the refugees it had picked up. It was almost fortunate that the majority of the crew had been killed in the attack...if _Archangel _had left Heliopolis with a full compliment, the food and water wouldn't have lasted more than a couple days. It had been hoped that they could resupply at Artemis to allow for making it to the moon.

Unfortunately for everyone involved, Gerald Garcia had been an idiot of the highest order. Now, even with what supplies _Sverige_ could spare, the Alliance warship was running desperately low on both food and water. Hence the meeting that Alexandra had been called to when she left Kira.

_Alexandra walked onto the bridge of the _Archangel_, and saluted on reflex. She hadn't been expecting to see the familiar head of red hair marking her own captain. Lang merely smiled slightly, returning the salute himself...though not without a slight bit of stiffness. Learning the new Sword salute as opposed to the Scandinavian one was something they would probably never get used to._

_"Thank you for coming Miss. Bernhard," Murrue Ramius spoke into the silence._

_"No problem," Alexandra replied, moving to stand with her Captain, "I'm curious why you needed me though."_

_"I decided it would be better if my pilot on the _Archangel_ were present for the meeting," Lang answered._

_Nodding slightly, said pilot turned back to Murrue, who was sighing softly._

_"I wish it were an easier subject we were talking about, but this is a critical issue," the young woman began, "my crew have already mapped out the three most logical paths to Lunar HQ. Unfortunately, there is no way our supplies will last for even the shortest route, and that presumes ZAFT doesn't find us again."_

_Mu jumped in at that, "Le Cresuet isn't the type to give up, even if we didn't have a massive nuclear target painted on our backs."_

_The Captain nodded gravely, "Exactly what Lieutenant La Flaga said. If we're going to make it to the moon, we have to find a new source of supplies."_

_Looking between the officers, Alexandra couldn't help a small frown. While she was primarily a native of Earth, she did know the layout of the various Colonies and military bases. Sword had tagged the vast majority of them when it became apparent the Alliance was building mobile suits...mostly to find any other hidden projects they might have missed. And unless she was seriously mistaken..._

_"There are not any bases you can resupply at along the routes, correct?" Lang broke in._

_"Not after the earlier battles in the war, no," Natarle commented, "The last base we had along the selected routes was destroyed two months ago."_

_Observing the plotted routes, Alexandra noticed one thing, "And the only faster way is through the Belt?"_

_"Right in one Alex," Mu nodded, "And at the speed we're going, we'd end up as part of the debris if we tried going through it."_

_It really was quite the conundrum...they didn't have supplies to go even the shortest of the safe routes, but the only quicker way was through the Debris Belt. Going through that in anything larger than an agile destroyer was practically suicide. Unless one were to go at slow speeds, but that just compounded the issue since going through the Belt at a safe travel speed would take nearly as long as the other routes, and was far more likely to end badly. Not that using the Belt to lose ZAFT couldn't work of course...they wouldn't expect the _Archangel _and_ Sverige_ to use such a path. Not at all._

_"Wait a second..." the Hawk continued after a beat, his voice turning thoughtful, "Part of the Debris..."_

_"Lieutenant?" Murrue asked, cocking her head slightly._

_Lang's own head started nodding, "I think I know what you are planning Hawk."_

_"Maybe. If you're thinking of using the Debris Belt to resupply."_

_That...might just work actually. The Belt had its fair share of wrecked ships, both civilian and warships from earlier battles. Even with the Junk Guild around there were bound to be a decent amount that hadn't been stripped of their supplies. Vacuum sealed food would last quite some time, even exposed to space- might last longer actually, without any way for bacteria to thrive. And water would just freeze in its tanks, perfectly salvageable once melted and cleaned. Still though..._

_"I can't say I like the idea of stealing from the dead," Alexandra pointed out, "though the idea does have merit Hawk."_

_"What is with you two and using my nickname?" Mu complained, only to get a roll of Alexandra's eyes._

_"Because you only call me Alex?"_

_Mu couldn't help but laugh, "Caught me there. Anyway, I don't think any of us would be particularly happy about the idea. But if we're going to keep living we have to find supplies somewhere. And there just isn't another option."_

And it was for that reason- the fact that neither crew could find another option -that the odd pair of warships was approaching the Debris Belt. Approaching it slowly admittedly, as three mobile suits moved ahead to scout. This was done in the interest of safety more than anything else...by sending in the agile machines first, the crews could scout for any truly dangerous debris. Or ZAFT and pirate forces, which might be scoping out the Belt themselves.

Only three of the mobile weapons were actually sent however. The two Drakens, and Kira's Strike Gundam in this case. Both Mu's Zero and Luke's GX were being held back to guard the ships themselves, because of greater experience and firepower more than anything else.

"Kira, you see anything?" Alexandra asked, her machine paired with the Strike while Isabel explored on her own.

"Nothing but debris," the teenager answered, his eyes scanning the G-Weapons sensor suite while his fingers rapid-fire typed to attempt to adjust them.

The older pilot hummed in thought, "Isabel? Anything on your end?"

There was a slight delay as the communication was bounced off debris before the other woman replied.

_"A handful of wrecked ships. A Nelson is the most intact, but it's pretty deep in the field."_

It was more or less the same story where the other two mobile suits floated. Nothing but scattered wreckage, from ancient satellites and rocket boosters to the remains of shattered warships. Only one ship was marginally intact, and that was an old _Laurasia_ that might well have been sitting there since the start of the war. Needless to say, that was not exactly conducive to their goals...sure, the lack of hostile forces was a god thing. But the equal lack of any useful _salvage_ was hardly helpful. If they didn't find something this trip was a waste of time...and then they were in trouble. There was quite literally no time to waste, at all.

As such, Kira pushed a few more keys. The Strike's sensors weren't quite as advanced as the GX, but Kira was a truly marvelous programmer. There was only so much that could be done by reprograming systems and not tearing them apart physically, but if there was _anyone_ who could milk everything out of a system, it was Kira Yamato. With the final key press, his sensor radius expanded by fifteen percent. And promptly started flashing a warning light.

_What the...?_

Zooming in on the sensor reading, Kira felt his eyes widen slightly.

"Mis...Alexandra?" he contacted his partner.

If nothing else, the older blonde was prompt in her reply, "Something up Kira?"

"There's a civilian shuttle out here," he replied.

There was silence this time, as the other pilot mulled that over. There shouldn't be any civilians aside from the Junk Guild out in the Debris Belt. Even if there _wasn't_ a war going on. So who could it be?

"Is it active?" she asked, her own machine's sensors not quite able to see what Kira's could.

"Yes but it has other signals around it. I don't know what they are..." it was here that his total lack of any real military training came to bite him.

"Send me the data."

As Kira did that, Alexandra felt like cursing softly. The data showed a couple things that warranted that. First was the shuttle itself...blaring a distress signal in ZAFT code, something that the teen would clearly not recognize. Second was the other readings...Earth Alliance ids, corresponding to the Fourth Fleet. A force so riddled with Blue Cosmos according to Sword intercepts as to be that organizations private fleet. It was not a pretty image by any definition. Something had to be done...they weren't here to fight, but Alexandra could hardly just leave a civilian shuttle under attack like that. She wasn't Isabel...but civilians were not a valid target!

With that in mind, she turned her Draken hard to the 'right' and flared its thrusters as hard as they could go. It was exceedingly reckless, but she wasn't going to be the one who let innocent people die.

"Hey!" Kira sounded understandably confused, "Where are you going?!"

"Those readings are a shuttle under attack," Alexandra replied shortly.

"Civilians under..." the teen still sounded confused, before his voice took on a slight edge, "who?"

If the situation were any different, the Scandinavian might have been proud of her protégé/friend for being so determined to help. She could recognize the tone of voice he used quite well. In this situation though...

"The shuttle is using ZAFT codes," she replied, letting Kira fill in the blanks.

Which he did very quickly considering his Coordinator brain, "Then...Earth Forces are attacking?"

"Yes. I...think you should sit this one out Kira," Alexandra spoke softly, softer than she ever had in the cockpit, "I'm not affiliated with the Alliance. I can help that shuttle however I can, but if you try and help me in the Strike...I don't want to think about it. Captain Ramius might be willing to overlook it, but the rest of the Earth Forces wouldn't. If you help me, you'll be a target and they will probably stick you in a prison. Or even ex..."

"I'm helping."

The determination in those words brought the blonde up short, as she blinked rapidly. That wasn't the Kira she was used to. In point of fact, she doubted she had ever heard him sound so...sure of himself. Especially on a subject like this! If he fought the Earth Forces, even Blue Cosmos bastards like these, in the Strike...they would have every reason to brand him a 'traitor' and toss him in a prison at the least. Considering his Coordinator status, it would be far worse for him. He shouldn't fight here...there was way too big a risk for his future.

Her Draken could handle most anything the Alliance could throw at it. She wouldn't even begin to claim it would be easy, and she might well get hurt badly. But that didn't mean she wanted Kira to throw his future away like that.

"You can't Kira," thus, she protested, "They won't..."

"If I have to, I'll just move to your ship whenever we join up with the rest of the Earth Forces," the teen shot back, "Look, I can't let you fight alone! You're my friend, and I don't leave my friends alone. You need my help! And...I...couldn't live with myself if innocent people got hurt because I wouldn't try to help them."

Alexandra sighed, before a bemused smile crossed her face. This kid...

"Fine, if you're not going to say no I can't stop you. I just hope we know what we're doing..."

_-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-_

Grunting slightly, Lowe Guele grimaced as he threw Red Frame to the side. A yellow railgun slug flew past his Astray, blowing a piece of debris into smaller chunks. The Junk Guilder caught another shell with the blade of his special katana, the Gerbera Straight, as a standard Mobius unit flew by. He hadn't come into here to fight! But when he stumbled across the small transport _Silverwind_ under attack, he couldn't just let it be destroyed. The Guild was neutral and he certainly didn't want to get drawn into the war. That being said, the Guild _also_ had a policy of helping those who needed the aid. And in this case, that meant fighting to protect an undefended civilian shuttle.

He just wished it hadn't required actually fighting the Earth Forces. It was one thing to fight GINNs with Red Frame. Mobius units were almost impossible to close with, and that left him with an extremely difficult fight on his hands without a beam rifle.

"Why are they attacking civilians in the first place?" the Guilder complained, ducking under another shell.

_"Die Coordinator!"_

Grimacing once more at that shout, Lowe's incredibly sharp blade cut through the wing of a Mobius, sending it into a spin, "I'm not a Coordinator...or with ZAFT. I'm just a Junker!"

_"Only ZAFT has Mobile Su...aaaahhh!"_

The bigoted pilot's shout was suddenly cut off, as a _pink_ beam cut through his purple machine from the top. Lowe's head snapped around, looking for the source. Red Frame's old rifle and Blue Frame's identical one used _green_ beams. The sabers were pink, but not the beams. So who...?

"One of the Astrays?" a female voice came over his radio, right as Lowe found the source of the beam.

"Another Astray?" Lowe asked at the same time, before his eyes noted the absurdity of that, "Wait, that's not an Astray. And neither is the thing next to it. Awesome looking machines though!"

For her part, Alexandra cursed her slipup, thankful that Kira hadn't heard it. She had just been shocked to an extreme in seeing one of Sahaku's Astray models out in the Debris Belt, fighting the Alliance. She had thought they were destroyed at Heliopolis...but that was clearly MBF-PO2 Red Frame. The katana it was using was new though.

Any reflection would have to wait though, as the Earth Forces recovered from their shock.

_"You bastards!"_

_"Die Coordinators!"_

Mobius units returned to formation, shooting missiles and railgun shells with wild abandon. One of the _other_ notable facts about the Fourth was their relatively low skill level. To be expected with where they recruited from.

"Kira!" Alexandra shouted.

"I'm here!" the teen replied, as the Strike zoomed in from 'below' the enemy formation.

Green beams leapt forth, each targeted with the precision that only a Coordinator could manage. Even as inexperienced as Kira was, not one shot missed its mark. His training in her simulator had clearly paid off, as two Mobius units fell apart, melted thrusters propelling ruined machines forward. A third spun away, it's pilot vaporized by a beam round. The remaining machines quickly scattered once more, confusion reigning supreme among the pilots. They had trained against ZAFT forces...and these were clearly better than GINNs or CGUEs. Unfortunately for the pilots, they had no idea just _how_ much better that truly was.

One lucky pilot managed to get an angle on the Strike. His railgun spit out two shells in rapid succession, the projectiles impacting right on the Strike's armor...

"_Ha! I got one!"_

...only to promptly bounce right off. The pilot didn't have long to gape, before Alexandra swooped down, emerald beam saber bisecting the Mobius. For his part, Lowe just watched, his jaw dropping. This reminded him of Gai, but the machines were clearly superior to the Blue Frame when he last saw it. The white and red one swooped through the formation, it's beam saber cutting Mobius units apart left and right. Any shots sent its way were expertly dodged or caught on the shield, the mobile suit moving almost unnaturally well. It would certainly give Red Frame a run for its money in that regard. The other one was slower and not quite as agile, but the pilot seemed to know exactly where to place his shots. The _Nelson_ class battleship that he had stumbled across soon learned that the hard way.

Green beams poured into its flank, as return fire completely missed the mark. First one turret went apart, then another. Melted metal spun away from the mighty warship, as it began to burn in places. It would have taken more than one GINN to do what this one machine was doing. Lowe couldn't have done it himself, not without a beam rifle. But with his less than stellar firing skills, he doubted he could have done this even _with _a rifle.

_Who are they?_

"I've got the rest Kira!" Alexandra broke in, as the Draken turned from the last Mobius...and fired it's pink beams into the burning _Nelson_. She didn't want Kira to have the loss of an entire battleship on his conscious. Maybe only she could notice, but his fire was starting to slack off...and she knew why. He was too kind-hearted...the teen was really going to beat himself up over this later.

As such, she fired beam after beam into the warship. Until one found its mark, punching clean through the powerful reactor o the Alliance battleship. A massive explosion lit up the area, as the ruined warship joined the rest of the debris in the Belt.

"I...can't believe we just did that," Kira muttered weakly, his determination fading now that he had actually fought.

All Alexandra could do was smile weakly herself, "Yeah...I know. Now...who are you?"

Taking her mind- and hopefully the teen's -off the expanding wreckage, Alexandra looked at the Red Frame.

"Who, me?" Lowe asked, before smiling at the image of the young woman and young_er_ boy, "Lowe Guele, I'm a Junker. I was coming through the field when I...found this. I couldn't just sit by, y'know? Junkers always help those who need it."

"A Junker huh?" the Scandinavian mused...it made some sense that one of them might have gotten ahold of Red Frame, "I'm Alexandra Bernhard of Sword, a Mercenary group."

"Kira Yamato...same," the Coordinator of the group replied, reflecting that after that...he might have to be if he wanted to stay out of prison.

Lowe just smiled wider, "Mercs huh? Know Gai Murakumo?"

"By reputation," Alexandra replied.

"Good guy," the Junker nodded, "Bit rough, but still. Gave him Blue Frame awhile back, since he let me keep Red Frame here."

Obviously that meant nothing to Kira, who didn't know about the Astray program. To his female counterpart however, that was an interesting tidbit to file away for the future. Red Frame ended up with the Junk Guild. Blue Frame ended up with Serpent Tail...who, so far as Mercs went, weren't that bad an outfit. They'd still work for anyone who could supply the funds, but they wouldn't do anything morally wrong. Murakumo was one of the most principled Mercs out there, and he ran a tight ship in that regard.

That still left Gold and Green Frames missing though, which could be bad. Nothing for it though, since her mission wasn't to find out what happened to Sahaku's attempt to make Astrays of his own. For now...her mission was...

_"This is the _Silverwind_," _a message came from the almost forgotten transport, its engine misfiring as fires burned on its hull, _"Thank you for the assistance. We were here as part of the Memorial Delegation for the Bloody Valentine...not to fight. On behalf of everyone in the PLANTs, I thank you for saving us and Miss Clyne. I can't say I know who you are...but we require repairs or new transport. Could you bring us to your mothership?"_

Kira and Lowe blinked almost in unison, but Alexandra nearly smashed her head against her controls. Of all the people...

"Lacus Clyne?"

_"You know me?"_ a bubbly female voice broke in on the other side.

"Heard of you, yes," the Scandinavian sighed, "Of all people to rescue..._Sverige, _do you read?"

After a slight delay for the transmission to go through, Lang's voice came over the comm systems, _"We read. Have you found any supplies?"_

Looking at the damaged transport, Alexandra sighed once more, "Not quite..."

* * *

**AN: And there we go! Like said above, here we have a pretty major break from canon. The accumulated butterflies have made it to where our heroes got to the Belt a bit earlier than they should have...early enough to meet Lacus before she got launched in the pod. Also...I'm very rusty on Gundam battles. Sky helped, but it might not be the best quality at the moment...**

**Sky: Needless to say, the repercussions of this aren't going to be pretty. We did take the liberty of _slightly_ fudging canon in regards to the Alliance attackers, but hey, the story must march on.**

**DX: Yup! Now, I'm also surprised by the amount of support for the Kira/Alexandra thing. I, well both of us really, expected 'nuh uh, never going to happen'. It's shocking that people actually _want_ that pairing. Sooo...if Patriot is cool with it, we can work that in.**

**Sky: Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. Remember to review if you did.**

**Both: See you next time!**


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